The time has come for Irish people to ask who we are becoming, where are we going and what kind of country it is we are building for our children, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has said.
With the "Old Ireland" no more, we must ask what have we put in its place and what are the values and ethics that guide us now as a nation, Mr Rabbitte told a party meeting in his Dublin South West constituency yesterday.
The Labour leader said many people he meets up and down the country have a deep sense of unease about the question "where are we going".
"We have torn down an edifice, but we have not done enough to rebuild," he said.
Mr Rabbitte said that while we have not by any means lost touch with all that is good in our past, our community values have been deeply eroded by more than a decade of "the devil taking the hindmost".
"We have a strong economy, but a society under strain, and a community that is not at ease with itself. We have more freedom to live by our own personal values, but it does not mean we can abandon the idea of community values."
Mr Rabbitte added: "The challenge for our country now is to define a new ethic to steer by. An ethic that is consistent with both personal freedom and personal responsibility. An ethic that respects people of many faiths and people of none. An ethic that offers guidance both to Government in its policies and to people in their communities."
Mr Rabbitte said being Irish must be about more than wearing a green hat on St Patrick s Day.
"The best way for our country to succeed socially as well as economically in the 21st century will be by building the fair society in which there is liberty for all, responsibility by all and fairness to all. "
Mr Rabbitte said we must agree to "de-commercialise childhood" and said it had never been so hard to be young, and consequently so hard to be a parent. "Our drink culture seems to be getting worse and more aggressive and a casual attitude to sex and relationships is consistently portrayed as the norm."