Labour has defeated “the Fine Gaelers”, the “Fianna Fáilers” and the nationalists and dragged the country into the 21st century, former party leader Ruairí Quinn has said.

Speaking during an impromptu late-night address to his party’s think-in Co Wicklow, the former minister for education said the Labour party had helped transform Irish society and had much to be proud of.

An emotional Mr Quinn, who will retire from politics ahead of the general election, told colleagues after dinner he would not speak at a parliamentary party think-in again and insisted Labour had much to celebrate from its role in the current Coalition Government.

“We have been a lonely tribe of adventurers, of pioneers, of visionaries, who have said we will transform this country in a way that it never was transformed before.

“And we have defeated the Fine Gaelers and the Free Staters, and we have defeated the Fianna Fáilers and the nationalists, and we have brought this country into the 21st century and without the Labour Party we would not be here today.”

Mr Quinn described himself as an “unreconstructed” socialist and said capitalism did not work all of the time.

“The great thing about socialism and social democrats, because we don’t believe in capitalism, we know how to f**king manage it,” he said.

Ruairí Quinn's impromptu address to Labour Party

“There are some things that can only be run by the State and we should never apologise for that.”

He said the country needed “managed capitalism” informed by social democratic values “and infused with a sense of liberation for the human spirit”.

Mr Quinn conceded the party had made mistakes during its time in coalition with Fine Gael.

“I have many regrets, many regrets about the mistakes that we made. But no regret about the journey we have travelled,” he said.

He pointed out Labour had never received massive support but was expected to introduce radical changes as the minority partner in Government.

“We are the only country of the 28 countries of the European Union along with Latvia that has never had a Labour, socialist-led Government ever since 1920.”

“And yet we are expected by a population to deliver a transformation of society within four or five years when they never gave us the mandate to do it with a vote that is beyond the 19 [per cent], we’ve never broken 20 per cent.”

Mr Quinn said what the party would go on to achieve was an “extraordinary transformation”.

In the course of the well-received address to TDs and Senators, relaxing after the first day of the party’s two-day think-in, Mr Quinn urged colleagues to go forward to the election with pride.

“If you look at what we have achieved and what more we can achieve, it is a parade of pride and success of which you should be enormously proud,” he said.

“Go forward with confidence, go forward with competence.”