The next President should embody the Wolfe Tone ideals of being "equidistant and openly accessible to Catholic, Protestant and dissenter alike", according to Independent candidate, Mr Derek Nally.
Addressing a rally in Waterford yesterday, Mr Nally described himself as a republican "in the truest sense of that much-abused word". He also declared himself a "committed liberal" who believed Ireland was a much better place to live as a result of reforms over the last decade.
Identifying Northern Ireland as "without a doubt the most important issue before us today", he said he did not agree with talk about the fragility of the peace process. This was because he believed the process was grounded in the will of the people "who have rejected the futility of unwinnable, painful and costly war".
He called for more leadership and vision - some of which, he accepted, had already been shown by all sides: "By Sinn Fein in its pursuit of a political rather than a military solution. By the Ulster Unionists in their continuing participation in the talks. By successive leaders of the Irish and British governments in actually getting the talks on the road."
Declaring himself a republican, Mr Nally said this meant he believed in equal opportunity for all and in "the common dignity of man".
"I do not believe in a republicanism that has been subverted by a narrow and mean-minded nationalism or by a sickening sectarianism. That is not republicanism and should not be dignified by that worthy term."
Respect for others, tolerance and pluralism were the hallmarks of a true republic. "They are the hallmarks of the republic whose civic society I aspire to lead."
Referring to next year's bicentenary of the 1798 Rebellion, Mr Nally said he looked forward to the celebrations. Some 200 years ago, his adopted home county of Wexford had "lit the beacon" of republicanism.
"I do not fear to speak of '98. Our next President should embody the ideals of Tone and be - and throughout this island and all of its communities be perceived to be - even-handed, equidistant and openly accessible for Catholic, Protestant and dissenter alike. This, too, is a legacy of the Robinson Presidency which must not be cast aside."
If elected President, he "would invite all of Ireland, especially our rising generation, to come join me in a voyage of rediscovery of our republican inheritance and to relocate it in the great sweep of universal values and principles that flow from the American Declaration of Independence and the French Revolution, from whence it came and to which it properly belongs".
Describing himself as one who had been "a committed liberal all my life", he said he believed Ireland was a better place to live following the liberal reforms of recent years.
"We have made great strides in the past decade in opening up public attitudes, in increasing tolerance, in accepting freedom of conscience. Mary Robinson's Presidency clearly was a watershed in that regard.
"Over the next seven years, I do not want to see any rowing back on any of those issues. I don't want to see us stepping a single millimetre backwards on any of those fronts."
