Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Fourscore and ten years ago on 21 January the men and women of the First Dáil met here in this room. Their meeting sent out a message of independence, of courage and of hope to the peoples of the world. That message has been repeated by many leaders in many lands in the intervening decades. It will be repeated again today in another place by another young man carrying in his genetic makeup part of what makes our Irishness unique.

I ndáiríre, éirí amach ab ea chéad chruinniú na Chéad Dála — éirí amach sa ghaol idir Éire agus an Bhreatain; éirí amach i stair daonlathach na hÉireann; éirí amach idir Éire agus tíortha eile; agus, go speisialta, éirí amach sa chaoi ina mbreathnaimid orainn féin mar dhaoine agus mar náisiún. Sna blianta sin, ba é an chéad éirí amach i ré réabhlóideach ar fud na hEorpa.

Its membership read like a "Who's who" of the people who framed the 20th century in Ireland — de Valera, Cosgrave, Mulcahy, O'Kelly and Collins, among many others. It also included the first woman elected in Ireland, Countess Markievicz. I am moved by the spirit of those who preceded us in this place, particularly by those elected to that First Dáil who later became the leaders of the Cumann na nGael Party and later Fine Gael, over which I now preside as leader.

The most striking characteristics of the First Dáil were its simplicity and its austerity. There was no fanfare, no pomp or ceremony, just a short prayer in Irish read by Fr. O'Flanagan and then the roll call of members. The majority of the 103 Members returned in the 1918 election were not present — some by choice, others through force of circumstance, their absence recorded in the recurring phrase of that day, "faoi ghlas ag Gallaibh".

Those who scoffed at this new body, and there were many, totally under-estimated the seriousness of purpose, the utter determination of this new emerging generation of Irish politicians. It was easy to be sceptical. The new assembly had no legal standing or international recognition, no building of its own, no government apparatus to direct or carry out its wishes. Its very calling, said The Irish Times, was "a solemn act of defiance of the British Empire by a body of young men who have not the slightest notion of that Empire's power and resources, and not a particle of experience in the conduct of public affairs". Yet, in spite of its shadowy existence, in spite of the constant raids and harassment, and in spite of not having any real power or resources, this Dáil did establish the authentic credentials of modern Irish democracy. It was a clear signal that once the military campaign was over, the people's Parliament would be supreme.

It was more than just symbolic. The new Dáil laid down the principles and guidelines on which an independent Irish Parliament would evolve. At the heart of these principles was the central role of a sovereign Dáil. It also gave us many of our rules and procedures which have persisted to this day. Crucially, it insisted on full total accountability by Government to the Dáil — accountability as to how the people's money was spent and answerability for all the actions of Government.

It would be good to recount that this principle of Dáil supremacy found its way into the life of the new State. Sadly, it did not. It may have been the Civil War which created an atmosphere of mistrust among former colleagues; it may have been a too rigid system of party discipline; it may have been the diffidence of the Dáil itself. For whatever reason, subsequent years saw an inexorable strengthening of the position of the Government over that of the Dáil, and saw the Dáil itself, except maybe in times of crisis, give up so many of the powers and functions, and indeed responsibilities, that should have rightly been its own.

We celebrate this anniversary at a time in the life of our country which is as unhappy and dangerous as any we have known. If one thing is clear at this time it is that we need a Dáil as envisaged by the men and women of 1919, a Dáil which is at the centre of our politics, not one at the periphery of events, a Dáil to which the Government and all its agencies of Government are openly accountable, and most of all a Dáil which leads events rather than reacting to them.

There are other things to reflect on today. There is, for example, the debt our democracy owes those who were not present 90 years ago today, the old Irish Party, the party of Parnell, Redmond and Dillon. It is easy to forget the enormous part they played in the shaping of Irish parliamentary democracy. For 40 years it was the voice of nationalist Ireland and for 40 years its goal was an independent Irish Parliament. For all of this it got little thanks. The great Seán MacEoin, the Blacksmith of Ballinalee, expressed it well in 1938 when he said, "The old Sinn Féin members should apologise to the members of the old Irish Party... We blackguarded them up and down the country because we were not aware of the facts." His words were not universally welcome in 1938, but today those of us in the two larger parties especially, who stem from the old Sinn Féin, should echo the words of Seán MacEoin and acknowledge on this very special day the contribution of the Irish Party to the establishment of our strong and durable parliamentary democracy.

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