Martin address major FF rally in Navan

Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin has addressed a major Fianna Fail rally in Navan where he called for a renewal of the party "to return Fianna Fail to the core principles that for so many years won the support and loyalty of the Irish people." Some 300 people packed into the main suite in the Newgrange Hotel to hear Mr Martin deliver the speech which was broadcast live on RTE's News Extra channel. He said that Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore "are visionaries with perfect hindsight, who have conveniently forgotten everything the said in the last two campagns and every day in the Dail." The Fianna Fail election 'Plan' was the only one which can be implemented in full, because it leaves out everything other than the core urgent challenges facing the country, he claimed The former foreign affairs minister was introduced by Cllr Shane Cassells and Deputy Johnny Brady, his party's candidates in Meath West. The full text of the speech is available below: LEADING FIANNA FÁIL & IRELAND TO A BETTER FUTURE Micheál Martin Navan, Sunday 20th February 2011 We meet tonight at a cross roads in the life of our nation. I want to speak with you about our party and our nation, and of what we must do to renew Fianna Fail and build a better future for Ireland. I have been the leader of Fianna Fail for only three weeks. Working with you and our candidates throughout the country, we have achieved more than anyone could have imagined in this short time. I know that the people in our party and in our nation had very little time to get to know me as a leader before the election. But in just a few weeks I have travelled the length and breadth of this country, and have seen and been touched by so many people across our land. I am inspired by their stories. What I have heard from the thousands of members and supporters I met is that they want Fianna Fail to be clear about where we stand, what we represent – and how we will be true to our finest traditions. If we return Fianna Fail to the core principles that for so many years won the support and loyalty of the Irish people, we will not only renew our party, we will renew a vital positive force in the life of our nation. Fianna Fail is not a party which was founded in a position of strength or power. We were a splinter group from a minority party. Our founders were great figures but they started our party with nothing. They created Fianna Fail because they refused to stand still and allow Irish republicanism to become irrelevant. They worked hard to understand their own mistakes, and they listened to people. I was not born into politics. I chose to join Fianna Fail because it was the party that stood up for ordinary people, and took care of the most vulnerable. That is the party I joined, and I am here tonight to tell you that Fianna Fail will be that party again. I reject the dismissive view of our opponents that our success over many decades was based on manipulating the public. We won the support of the people in the past because of what we achieved for this country. We have had many leaders who have provided the inspiration and example that we must call upon today as we attempt not just to win seats in an election, but to renew our party. I think of Constance Markiewicz, a women of great bravery during our struggle for independence and a groundbreaking feminist who chaired the first meeting of our party. I think of Sean Lemass, who has been rightly called "the man who made modern Ireland". A leader who was there at the beginning of the fight for this Republic, he stood with De Valera to found our party and to give our nation a republican constitution. Lemass understood that Ireland's economic future was in trade and international commerce. His vision saw a future for Ireland in Europe, and he knew in his heart that the path to Irish unity was through peaceful negotiation, not endless conflict. I think of Patrick Hillery and Donogh O'Malley who were determined that all people would have the right to educational opportunity – opening up secondary education and creating a new third-level system. I think of Frank Aiken, an Armagh man who was a revolutionary of great integrity and was passionate about Ireland playing a positive role on the international stage. The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty he negotiated remains one of the towering achievements of diplomacy in the last fifty years. And I am also inspired by the example of my fellow Corkman, Jack Lynch. He was a man of honesty, decency and humility, who understood that the best way to real progress in government is through consensus, not partisan conflict. These leaders and many others provide a vital example at this time of enormous challenge. They also inspire me to work to renew Fianna Fail, and make it the great political movement that it has been in the past, and that I promise you it will be again. Our work of renewal will not be easy, and it will not happen overnight. We need to awaken our core principles, and work to make those principles and the tradition that they arise from, the heart of our party. I choose to fight for a tradition that aims to secure in peace and agreement the unity of Ireland and its people, and I reaffirm our absolute commitment to that principle here tonight. One of our greatest achievements in Government was helping deliver peace in the North. Our Republican beliefs and determination to unite our country are undiminished, but we must now find new language and new methods to take the next steps in this journey. Our work in the North is not done and will not be done until the great promise of peace and unity among all the people of our island is delivered in full measure. If you believe in unity for this island, then I appeal to you to join me in renewing Fianna Fáil. I choose to fight for a tradition that preserves and defends the Irish language as a living language. Our native language has survived the effects of colonisation, famine and globalisation. Today it is poised at a moment once unthinkable where a deep revival is possible. It is the language of instruction in schools from Ballyferriter to Ballymun. Don chéad uair ó bunaíodh an Stát, tá plean cuimsitheach fadtéarmach againn don Ghaeilge. Beidh obair mhór ann an méid sin a bhaint amach ach táim cinnte go n-éireoidh linn. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, ní neart go cur le chéile. Tá an Ghaeilge mar chuid lárnach dár n-oidhreacht agus dár bhféiniúlacht. Cinnteoidh ár Straitéis go mbeidh an Ghaeilge mar chuid lárnach dár dtodhchaí mar phobal chomh maith. Seasfaimid leis an nGaeilge agus stádas na Gaeilge. If you believe in a living Irish language, then I appeal to you to join me in renewing Fianna Fáil I choose to fight for a tradition which defends religious and civil freedoms. We are the party that helped Ireland keep the facism of the 1930s away from achieving any influence in this country – bringing in a constitution which entrenched democratic values and tolerance. We are the party which enacted equality legislation, supported the institutions of minority communities and recently gave recognition to the relationships of same-sex couples. If you believe in a practical commitment to democracy and tolerance, then I appeal to you to join me in renewing Fianna Fáil. I choose to fight for a tradition that is committed to both economic development and social progress. We have always rejected the simplistic ideological extremes of left and right. We have promoted economic development that believes in developing the resources and wealth of Ireland to their full potential, while making them serve the needs of the people. If you believe that economic and social development must go hand in hand, then I appeal to you to join me in renewing Fianna Fáil I choose to fight for a tradition that is second to none in its sustained commitment to the elderly. It was Fianna Fáil that introduced most of the social supports available to the elderly. It is this party which increased the state pension year after year ahead of rising costs and ahead of other welfare measures. If you believe that the elderly deserve to be given a priority then I appeal to you to join with me in renewing Fianna Fáil. I choose to fight for a tradition which stands unrivalled in opening up educational opportunity for all. It was the clear-sighted vision and commitment of our past leaders that allowed my generation to be the first where secondary education was available to all. They also created much of our third-level system with every significant expansion in participation coming about through the policies of Fianna Fáil governments. In the last decade and a half, we are the party which created the first national programme to include children with special needs in all schools. If you believe that education is central to the future of our country, then I appeal to you to join me in renewing Fianna Fáil. Though I am proud to be from the second-largest city on this island, I choose to fight for a tradition that is committed to sustaining rural communities. At different times in the modernisation of our economy there were many demands that we relegate the importance of rural Ireland and its dominant industry. We refused to do so and kept expanding the range of supports available – never relenting in our commitment to rural Ireland in international negotiations. If you believe that rural Ireland has as an important role to play in our future as it played in our past, then I appeal to you to join me in renewing Fianna Fáil. I choose to fight for a tradition that stands apart by uniting different sections of society not dividing them into separate camps. We showed that one party could build a common bond between small farmers, urban workers and a growing professional class. Alone of the parties, we have been organised in and represented every single community. As we are seeing more and more in recent weeks, others are content to target sectional groups in the pursuit of power. If you believe that we should reject the parties of division and embrace the politics of community then I appeal to you to join me in renewing Fianna Fáil. And I choose to fight for a tradition that respects Ireland's status as a nation which contributes to the peace and disarmament of the world on the basis of both our European Union membership and our commitment to neutrality. It is for these and the many other rich elements of our party's tradition that I choose to be in Fianna Fáil, to lead it, and to ask you to help me in renewing it. That is what we stand for as a party. That is the tradition I will fight for every day as Party Leader. And that is the cause that I ask you to join me in defending and renewing. The first test for us is in how we campaign in this election and what programme we put before the people. A commitment to a renewal of politics has to start with a willingness to put aside the political games which are too much a part of our politics. As the new leader of Fianna Fail, I felt my first duty was to offer the people a campaign as serious as the issues we face. That is why we produced a manifesto different from anything seen in recent times. Unlike any other party and unlike our practice in many past elections, our Real Plan for a Better Future leaves out everything other than the core urgent challenges facing our country. It deliberately does not provide one for everyone in the audience. There is not even one extra spending commitment. The Plan is the only manifesto of any party in this election which can be implemented in full. Let me be clear, I know this approach is unconventional – and it is a political risk. We have not been in a position to promise new things every day – and I decided that there would be none of the usual empty tactics which are all about gimmicks and nothing about tackling problems. There have been no fake billboard campaigns, no cardboard heads sticking out of cars and no manufactured outrage. We have left that to the others. To learn lessons from the past, we have to accept that the wider parliamentary and governmental system failed us, and needs to be radically changed. That is why we have brought forth the most ambitious plan of reform Ireland has seen in recent history. Our reforms are fundamental: we will reshape the Dail, and breath new life into politics. And let me be clear why we are doing this: better politics means a stronger economy that will bring sustainable jobs in its train. I said when I became Party Leader that we could not have this election on the basis of how we conducted previous elections. The sound bite must go out; it must be replaced by substance and detail. We need action and reform, not more of the old politics. The single greatest action we can take to help people in this country today is to create jobs. I believe we need to create opportunities for young people, in training, in work experience and in actual employment. Equally, we need to create the right environment and supports for small businesses to start up, to grow and to thrive, and for workers to receive the skills training they need. Our plan shows sector by sector and in great detail exactly how we can create new jobs in the years ahead – at least 150,000 directly and many more in the wider economy. That's why I'm hopeful. The Irish people are tough and they are resilient. Let nobody doubt that, or the capacity of each generation to succeed. That is the great lesson and gift from our history. And I am here tonight to tell you that we will come out of this crisis, and Ireland's economy will be strong again. Our Plan is a framework to deliver economic growth, job creation and radical political reform. Our approach to spending is balanced and has been guided by the need to protect our long-term economic interests. That is why we have prioritised education, and our plan details our commitment to education and training. It's a driving passion of mine, the idea that every child deserves a chance in life irrespective of their background or the circumstances in which they were born. This is the essence of true republicanism. And we believe that every person who wants to work, should be given the chance to gain the skills they need to get a good job where they can support themselves and their family. I believe in the dignity of work, and I will work every day as leader of Fianna Fail to develop policies that create jobs for the Irish people. To be the proud member of one party does not mean that you must dislike those who belong to others. I have always maintained strong friendship across party lines and I have always strived to show respect for those I disagree with. Unfortunately, the nature of the opposition parties' campaigns in this election clearly shows that they haven't learned the lessons of the past, nor do they understand the need for new politics. The truth is Enda Kenny's pledge to hold the line on taxes is a false promise. His plan is full of back door taxes and fees on everything from homes to water charges to pension funds. And even worse, at a time when we need more than ever to restore the faith and trust that people should have in their government, Enda is running an old time campaign full of empty and uncosted promises that are made to win votes, not fix problems. Even his potential coalition partner in the Labour Party has said Fine Gael is trying to hide its programme of cuts, charges and stealth taxes from the public. Has the political class in this country not learned anything? We all played a role in creating the political culture that got us where we are. Both Fine Gael and Labour conducted a bidding war in the last general election, promising higher spending and more tax cuts than we did in Fianna Fail, but we too were a willing participant. And in the Dail they kept up that drumbeat, and demanded less tax and more spending until it became obvious that we faced enormous problems from the global economic downturn. It was Enda Kenny himself who, in 2008, said in the Dail, "Nobody denies that the fundamentals of the Irish economy are sound". In the Leaders' Debate in the last election, Enda spoke about his "great confidence in the economy in the times ahead" to justify his projections of economic growth, that were higher than the projections we were using. So when you hear them say how could you, Micheal Martin, pursue policies that hurt our economy, remember the policies that they were advocating. We in Fianna Fail have accepted our responsibility; others are abdicating theirs. Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore have looked deep into their hearts and come to the conclusion that they have never made a mistake or got anything wrong. They are visionaries with perfect hindsight, who have conveniently forgotten everything they said in the last two campaigns and every day in the Dail. The fundamental difference between Enda Kenny and me is this: he is focused on Friday the 25th of February, I am focused on the future of our country. These parties are part of the old politics, that tell people what they want to hear. Now is the time to end the old politics in Ireland, and restore the bond of trust between those who serve in government and those who elect us to serve. That is the essence of the new politics I am committed to. I ran for Party Leader on that platform, and I ask you to join me in this commitment to restore our politics and revive our democracy. Our Plan demonstrates our commitment to fundamental radical reform in government and politics. I want a Parliament which is a direct link with citizens but is focused on national issues. And I want a government which draws on the best expertise in the country. That is why we have brought forward a proposal to bring outside experts into government at the highest levels, as Ministers. Others nations use this system to draw on the best and most talented in their ranks to run government departments, and so should a modern Ireland. Politics in this country has been a closed shop for too long, and we will fight to open it up. But the other parties refuse to endorse this new idea. They believe a government of, by, and for politicians is the best Government. But at a time like this, when our nation faces an enormous crisis, we must draw on every talent we have to get Ireland back to work and back on track. Politicians do not have a monopoly on wisdom, and I want the best and the brightest in every segment of Irish life to play their part in fast- tracking recovery. I have assembled a new team to lead Fianna Fail; a new team that will take our Party forward and help lead our nation in the right direction. By broadening our frontbench to include members of the party other than TDs I was making a statement that couldn't be clearer – Fianna Fáil is a broad party which is determined to value it members and use their talents no matter what their position is. It's what we need to do to end the old politics. We will work with anyone in government to advance ideas and policies that will move us out of the present crisis no matter who puts those proposals forward. The new politics that we embrace rejects the old partisanship that leads to endless opposition and continuous political point scoring. And I promise to travel all across Ireland as long as I am leader of Fianna Fáil, to work with you and others right across this country to renew Fianna Fáil. No other political party has offered such a specific, detailed and radical plan for reform as Fianna Fail. And is it any wonder why? The strength of this party and the soul of this nation will not be found in any political manifesto or political leader. Our buildings, roadways or businesses do not define modern Ireland, and neither does the natural beauty and bounty that we are blessed with. The great strength of Ireland is found in our people. They - you - are the soul of Ireland, and if we make the right choices, not just in this election but also in the days and years that follow, we will breath new life into our people and our party, and make Ireland great again. I know we can do it. Because the greatest lesson I learned in life was to never give up, never go down in a fight and always keep fighting till the final bell. And that's my motto in politics and in this election. We will fight for every vote and every seat. We won't lie down. And we will work until every polling station is closed on election night in every corner of this Republic. We will make sure every person knows that Today's Fianna Fail is committed to renewing its core values, and to being the party that will again be the vehicle for social and economic advancement for the ordinary people of this country, now and into the future. I know the rock from which I was hewn. I know my roots. I've never lost that, and I'll always return to that ground. I'm proud of my past, of the achievements of our party, and of the great tradition and spirit of Fianna Fail. So let's leave here tonight renewed in that spirit, determined to use every waking hour in the days ahead to reach out - to tell people that we will not let them down, we will not leave them behind, and we will always be on their side. Let's turn out the vote, and turn up the heat on those who believe elections are won before the people's voice is heard. Let's come together on Friday, and leave no stone unturned. If we do that, we will know that we have fought the good fight, and that our party and our nation will be better for it. I love this country, and I love this party, and I know you do too. So let's make every minute matter, until the voting ends and the counting begins. We can realize a new dawn in Ireland, if we make the right choices and do the right thing. Thank you all, and let's work together for victory, for a renewed Fianna Fail, and for a better future for Ireland.