Pat Rabbitte's resignation as leader leaves Labour entering a time of introspection and internal debate about what direction it should go.

It is vital that members make the right choice at this time because a centre left party with a strong liberal vision, committed to equality and a sense of identity that embraces our new Irishness, is a sorely needed element in the political landscape.

The Shannon saga and the self-imposed impotence of the government in the face of market forces ought to tell us that.

Rabbitte . . . principled, clever, articulate (often too articulate), tough, reforming . . .

led the Labour Party to the brink of government but in the end his partnership with Enda Kenny and Fine Gael was a risk too great for the electorate who, he admits himself, were fearful of change.

On such small margins do the fates of politicians rest and Rabbitte, bitterly disappointed that his strategy failed, has done the right thing and resigned.

Labour must now re-establish its independence. It must re-establish the core values that it needs to connect with today's rapidly changing society. After all, the next election is in the second decade of the 21st century and sometimes voters who, in the words of Pat Rabbitte "think Labour but don't vote Labour", feel they are being spoken to in the language of the 1970s and '80s.

The new leader must actively regenerate the membership, showing younger people that there is a fairer, more efficient way of running this country than leaving everything . . . from the provision of hospital beds to air routes . . . to the forces of the market.