Voters have been pushed to the left in anger, and to the right in fear, according to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Mr Kenny said that thanks to the European Union, young people have grown up "without being called up".

"But we have taken peace for granted," he said. "Apathy and complacency are always the enemy of democracy and we need to address that.

"The new right will not be dressed up as the old. The new right revolution will not be televised, it will be tweeted."

He warned of the need to break out of the bubble of politics and listen, as he addressed delegates at a luxury hotel in Malta attending a two-day gathering of Europe's most powerful political grouping.

Less than 24 hours after the United Kingdom formally triggered divorce proceedings with the EU, and with just weeks to go until first round voting in the French presidential election, Mr Kenny said there was a need to ensure that the centre holds.

"We need to break out of the bubble of politics that we live in and listen to all those voices out there," Mr Kenny told a gathering of the European People's Party, to which Fine Gael is affiliated.

"The drift away from the centre to the right and the fracturing of old politics are warnings that we should heed."

Addressing EPP delegates, he said politicians needed to have the sense and humility to realise that they haven't always got things right, or listened as they should have.

"Because of that, good people have been pushed to the left in anger, and to the right in fear. We have the opportunity to bring those people back, and I know that we will," he said.

The gathering included fellow political leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The Taoiseach opened his short address with Brexit, emphasising the need for the language of the Good Friday Agreement to be incorporated into the ground rules of the negotiations. He also said he spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday and acknowledged the fact she referenced Ireland and Northern Ireland in the Article 50 letter. He noted Europe's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, was also an EPP member.

Mr Tusk said Brexit had made the EU more determined and united.

Irish Independent