THE current government does not need a reshuffle – it needs to go, Gerry Adams told the Sinn Féin ardfheis last night in his presidential address.

The Sinn Féin president called on people to send the government "a message", and said: "The people need to tell them to get lost. Don't wait until the next election. Make a stand now. Be a leader. Don't wait for anyone else".

Describing the "pouring of billions of taxpayers' money into a toxic banking system and Nama" as the "biggest scandal of all", Adams said there was no Nama for workers. The establishment would not nationalise the wealth during the Celtic Tiger boom years "but now they are happy to nationalise the debt," he said.

In a clear reference to the allegations surrounding his brother Liam, Adams acknowledged that it had been a "difficult period for my clan". He thanked "everyone who has expressed solidarity with my family", adding that his wife Collette had asked him to "thank everyone who sent her get well messages".

He also singled out Limerick Councillor Maurice Quinlivan for "his determination to clear his good name". Adams said that "in the end, Willie [O'Dea] tripped over his own moustache, but be assured he would still be in this awful government if Maurice had not made a stand. Maith an fear Maurice. Will that end the attacks on Sinn Féin? Of course not. The only difference between Willie and the other smearers and backstabbers is that Willie got caught out".

Adams outlined Sinn Féin's proposals for a €3.2bn stimulus package for the economy, and said that "jobs can be protected. Jobs can be created. Frontline public services can be sustained and developed if public finance is raised in a fair way."

Quoting the 1916 Proclamation's statement of support for all the children of the nation, the Sinn Féin leader said the protection of children "is the responsibility of all of us and it should be guaranteed in the constitution".