One hundred years ago, the brave men and women of the rising set out a vision for a new Irish Republic. Today, it is clear to us that the goals of their proclamation have not as yet been fulfilled. We must seek to show our gratitude and do our best in this century to improve our country and honour the vision of these courageous leaders.

We believe that every citizen deserves equal opportunities in all areas of their lives. In particular, we feel equality in employment and education is vital. No matter what their age, gender, religion, or wealth everyone should be entitled to achieve their potential. We believe in free education for all.

In modern Ireland nobody should be forced to live on the streets. We believe that there should be more help for the homeless. Shelters where they can stay temporarily until more houses are provided and more jobs created would be a first step. They should be provided with the basic necessities of life and not be ignored or treated differently.

We need to educate children how to eat healthily, encouraging them to keep active so that when they grow up they will teach future generations of the importance of healthy living. It should become more difficult for people to start smoking. The Irish attitude to alcohol must change. We need to employ more people to research cures and medicines for diseases. We also need to expand hospitals and make sure every citizen will have access to services without having to wait.

To make Ireland safer more Gardaí should be employed. Drug gangs and criminals should be punished severely. Our roads must become safer places for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. Road traffic laws should be enforced for all. Every citizen should feel safe in their communities. Anti-social behaviour and street crime must be prevented. All types of bullying including online bullying should be eradicated. Nobody should be made to feel so bad that they harm themselves.

Never again should Irish citizens be forced to leave their homeland to find work. We should ensure this by creating more jobs in Ireland and also welcome more businesses to our country from abroad.

We need to take pride in our spectacular countryside and stunning landscape; it is the envy of people around the world. Enforcing our littering and pollution laws strictly is essential as is creating more designated wildlife preserves for our native animals.

Increasingly, we should be considerate of others and how our actions here impact on the rest of the world. Though we are not badly affected by climate change in Ireland, we are a cause of it, and so should work to fight against it. We also need to accommodate and provide shelter for more refugees until they find a stable living environment or it safe to return home.

We should continue to take great pride in our Irish culture. The revolutionaries of nineteen sixteen fought to defend our identity. Our language, arts and sports are central to this and we must actively promote them. This is achievable only if we encourage our citizens to speak our native tongue, enjoy our music and literature and play our Gaelic games.

Ireland is a much different place than it was in 1916. In so many ways things are significantly better but there is still a long way to go, before we have, not just a better Ireland but a fairer Ireland. With God’s help, we, the generation of 2016 will shoulder these responsibilities doing our best and playing our part to guarantee Ireland a proud nation among the countries of the world.