The key issues for most people in the accession countries are poverty, human rights and democracy. Ireland, as a country which was, until recently, geographically marginal and economically underdeveloped, has a lot to contribute to this dialogue. The challenge of enlargement is first and foremost a social challenge because most people in central and eastern Europe are chiefly concerned about what impact it will have on their day-to-day lives. In the past decade they have seen their new political freedoms undermined by dramatically increasing poverty and inequality and the devastation of systems of social protection, employment and social services. Enlargement can only succeed if it responds to people's direct needs.