I have been privileged to serve my community, my party and our country for many years in public life. In that period, I am proud to have made a contribution to an unrivalled era of peace, prosperity and progress on this island.

Any achievements I have accomplished I share with the many people who have stood with me and behind me. I am grateful to so many people who have over the years given generously of their time and effort and shared my commitment to public service and building a fairer, stronger Ireland.

At the outset today, I want to thank my family who from the earliest stages supported me and always encouraged me throughout my journey in public life. My motivation for entering politics in 1977 was to represent the people of my constituency; throughout my political life my greatest honour has been to represent them in Dáil Eireann. I have been elected ten times in those 31 years by the people of Dublin Central I want to give special thanks to my constituency organisation. Their unprecedented commitment and friendship has never wavered. They have come with me, through good times and bad times, and for that I am very grateful.

Today, I thank all of those who have canvassed for me in election after election. I particularly recall those friends no longer with us but whose memories will always stay with me. Today I also want to say that I am humbled to have been entrusted for over a decade with the great responsibility of leading our nation. The Irish people are innately decent and I have been privileged to serve them and to enjoy tremendous support. I especially wish to acknowledge all those people who took the time to pray for me, to send me mass-cards and letters of goodwill.

As a political leader, I always took great encouragement and solace from such support. In November 1994, I was elected leader of Fianna Fáil, the Republican Party. This was for me and my family an extraordinary honour. To follow in the footsteps of DeValera, Lemass and those other giants of this nation’s history was both a daunting prospect and an historic opportunity. Almost fourteen years on, I am today Ireland’s second longest serving Taoiseach and the second longest serving leader of Fianna Fáil.

I believe the secret of Fianna Fáil's enduring success is rooted in the quality of people that we have as public representatives. I have been privileged to work with patriotic and decent colleagues and I will always be grateful for the faith they placed in me.

I want to thank all of my Fianna Fáil ministerial colleagues, our parliamentary party and all our councillors for their incredible support, overwhelming loyalty, and most of all their friendship which has sustained me throughout my period as Uachtaran Fhianna Fáil. Beyond our elected representatives I also want to pay tribute to the members of the Fianna Fáil National Executive and our party members in every cumann across the length and breadth of this country for whom I have a lasting respect. These ordinary patriotic men and women have been an inspiration to me. Their commitment and loyalty to our party is unmatched and I believe was a decisive factor in last year’s General Election.

Election 2007 demonstrated Fianna Fáil’s continuing strength and vitality as a national movement. I want to thank the tens of thousands of members and activists up and down the country for delivering that historic success. I am proud to be the first Taoiseach since 1944 to be elected on three successive occasions. On the day, I took over as leader of Fianna Fáil, I pledged to lead our party back into government and keep us there. I said then that I would strive to build up our economy.

Today Ireland is more prosperous than at any time in our entire history. All levels of Irish society have seen their well-being dramatically improved in the period I have served as Taoiseach. Above all else, I promised that day, that the priority I would put above all others would be to w

"Time For Heroes"

Did you see the stylish kids in the riot
We were shovelled up like muck
Set the night on fire
Wombles bleed truncheons and shields
You know I cherish you my love

But there's a rumour spread nasty diseases around town
Caught round the houses with your trousers down
A headrush in the bush
You know I cherish you my love
How i cherish you my love

What can you want now you've got it all
The whole scene is obscene
Time will strip it away
A year and a day
And Bill Bones
Bill Bones he knows what I mean

Yes it's eating no it's chewing me up
It's not right for young lungs to be coughing up blood
Oh it's all
It's all in my hands
And its all up the walls

Well the stale chips are up and the hopes stakes are down
Its these ignorant faces that bring this town down
Yeah I sighed and sunken with pride
I passed myself down on my knees
Yes I passed myself down on my knees

What can you want now you've got it all
The whole scene is obscene
Time will strip it away
A year and a day
And Bill Bones
Bill Bones knows what I really mean

There are fewer more distressing sights than that
Of an Englishman in a baseball cap
Yeah we'll die in the class we were born
That's a class of our own my love
Were in a class of our own my love

Did you see the stylish kids in the riot
We were shovelled up like muck
Then set the night on fire
Wombles bleed truncheons and shields
You know I cherish you my love
Oh how I cherish you my love.

Worrying - Its like a rocking chair, it passes the time but it won't get you anywhere.....