An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's Resignation speech.

Via Ireland.com

"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 work for
peace on this island. I kept my word and I have given my all to that cause.
Through painstaking negotiations, colossal work has been done in laying the
foundations of reconciliation and justice between the communities in Northern
Ireland. The cycle of hatred and violence which many people thought might never
end has been well and truly broken.
The Good Friday Agreement now provides
the political framework for an island that can at last achieve its full
potential. This week and next week, many of those who a decade ago played a role
in negotiating that historic accord will gather to reflect on the work which was
done and the progress which has since been made.
In preparing for the events
to mark this anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, I’ve obviously reflected
back on the road we have travelled from discord to peace, from distrust to
partnership and from despair to a new prosperity, north and south.
I have also taken this opportunity to take stock of my own position. At
the end of this month, I will visit Washington to address the Joint Houses of
Congress. It will be a great privilege to become only the fourth ever visiting
statesman to have addressed both Congress and Westminster. For me, this will be
one of the proudest moments of my political career.
In looking back on all
the things I wanted to achieve in politics, I am proud that as Taoiseach I have:
delivered on my objective to bring the peace process to fruition; delivered on
my objective to see a stable administration based on the power-sharing model
take root in Northern Ireland; delivered successive social partnership
agreements which underpin our social and economic progress; delivered a modern
economy with sustainable growth in employment and brought an end to the days of
forced emigration; delivered on my objective to improve and to secure Ireland’s
position as a modern, dynamic and integral part of the European Union.
As
leader of Fianna Fáil, I am proud too that I have ended the myth that Fianna
Fáil is incapable of sustaining a coalition government. I have led the two
longest serving coalitions in the history of this State. I have also laid the
foundations for another long running and successful coalition government which
has the capacity to run a full term.
I have the utmost respect for John
Gormley, Mary Harney and their respective parties who continue to work hard to
deliver a strong and stable government and implement our Agreed Programme for
Government. I also wish to acknowledge the steadfast support from Independent
Deputies who have supported me in government. Just as stability is important in
a coalition government, it is even more vital within a political organisation.
I always said that there would be no room for factions in Fianna Fáil under
my leadership and I am proud today to lead a strong and united party. A strong,
united party working within a cohesive government underpins stability and means
the primary focus of government is on performance, not on any other external
distractions.
It is a matter of real concern to me that the important work
of government and party is now being over shadowed by issues relating to me at
the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments. The constant
barrage of commentary on Tribunal related matters has and I believe will
continue to dominate the political agenda at an important point for our country.
We face uncertain economic times and challenges and we are soon to cast our
vote on the Lisbon Treaty. The vital interests of Ireland demand that the
national dialogue of our political system address these fundamental issues and
not be constantly deflected by the minutiae of my life, my lifestyle, and my
finances.
The decision I am announcing today — like all other decisions that
I have taken in a lifetime in politics - is solely motivated by what is
best for the people.
I have been reflecting on pursuing this course of
action for some time. This is solely a personal decision. I have no doubt that a
simplistic analysis will suggest that my decision has been influenced by most
recent events at the Tribunal. What I announce today is completely inspired by
the desire to refocus the political dynamic in Ireland. Recent developments have
not motivated my decision.
For the record I state today that nothing could
be further from the truth. I look forward to comprehensively dealing with these
matters at the Tribunal and robustly refuting any imputation against me. I first
sought election to the office of Taoiseach on the pledge that I would put people
before politics. I have kept that promise. I have always placed the interests of
the Irish people above my own.
Therefore I will not allow issues relating to
my own person to dominate the body politic as this would be contrary to the long
term interests of the Irish people. I want everyone to understand one truth
above all else. Never, in all the time I have served in public life, have I put
my personal interest ahead of the public good. I have served this country and
the people I have the honour to represent in Dáil Éireann honestly. I have
provided more details about my personal finances than any person in public life
who has ever held office.
While I will be the first to admit that I have
made mistakes in my life and in my career, one mistake I have never made is to
enrich myself by misusing the trust of the people. I have never received a
corrupt payment and I have never done anything to dishonour any office I have
held. I know that some people will feel that some aspects of my finances are
unusual. I truly regret if this has caused any confusion or worry in people’s
minds.
All of these issues arose in a period when my family, personal and
professional situations were rapidly changing and I made the best decisions I
could in the circumstances in which I found myself. I know in my heart of hearts
that I have done no wrong and wronged no-one. I look forward to the completion
of the Tribunal’s work and I am confident that when it reports, the Tribunal
will find that I have not acted improperly in anyway.
Equally I will not
allow issues concerning myself or my finances to divert attention from the
important job of government at hand. I believe it is in the best interests of
the Government, my Party and most importantly the people of Ireland that I set
out the time-frame for my departure from office.
It had always been my
intention to review my position as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil in the
aftermath of next summer’s Local and European Elections. But having reflected on
the need to ensure that the work of my ministerial colleagues is not distracted
from by incessant publicity about the Tribunal, I have decided of my own
volition to bring forward the date.
I will complete my duties over the
course of the next month and following on from my return from the United States
and the State Visit to Ireland by the Prime Minister of Japan; it is my
intention to tender my resignation to President McAleese on Tuesday 6th May. On
that date, I will also tender my resignation as Úachtarán Fhianna Fáil.
In
meantime, I will continue to discharge my duties as Taoiseach to the best of my
ability, and to work as hard as I have always done, to secure the continued
peace and prosperity of the island of Ireland. "