The creation of a new society, where people would feel safe, secure, included and respected, has been identified by the Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, as his main political priority.
In a New Year message to party members, Mr Quinn criticised the selfish and inequitable basis of the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat Government's Budget.
Having the fastest-growing economy in western Europe did not guarantee a reduction in the widening gap between the haves and have-nots, he said. The benefits of growth would remain unseen by many citizens, "unless we as a people decide to make conscious choices about the type of society in which we want to live".
He said the desperate problems of drugs and crime, unemployment and education drop-outs destroyed too many lives and the ghettoisation of those communities was no excuse to ignore them.
The ravages of market forces were accelerating agricultural rationalisation, driving people from the land and precipitating rural decline. Our suburbs were expanding and our large towns were choking with congestion.
Unfettered market forces had driven the cost of housing beyond the reach of ordinary couples, Mr Quinn said, and a coherent housing policy was needed.