Last weekend marked 15 years of devolution in Wales. The years since 1999 have seen the beginning of the most modern stage of the Welsh national journey.  

In the short time since 1997, politics in the British isles has changed dramatically.

There has been a peace process in Ireland and there is now a real possibility of an independent Scotland.

There is some momentum behind the idea of withdrawal from the EU, while increasing numbers of people in all of the countries of the British Isles see the Westminster political system as being broken beyond repair. 

Devolution in Wales has also changed in its first 15 years and it continues to.  

The development of Welsh devolution may well not appear as dramatic as the changes in some of the other nations, but we have come a long way considering how hesitant the people of Wales have been towards the idea of self-government in the past. 

Devolution has proven that people in Wales can govern themselves without the roof caving in. 

However, there is little doubt that the sense of self-confidence and the belief that we can do our politics differently and in a way that will achieve regular and consistent success for all is missing. 

This is not helped by the damaging “fight” between the parties in government in Westminster and Cardiff over Welsh public services. 

That debate has outlined the necessity to persist in making the point that when Welsh public services do not perform to the highest standard, it is the party or parties in the government of that institution who are responsible, not devolution or the institution itself. 

Those who blame devolution for the deep and extensive problems in our Welsh NHS should look to Scotland, where the devolved NHS is performing well.

Few would conclude that the Westminster Parliament should be abolished when things go wrong. People making that call for Wales deserve challenging.

One explanation for blaming devolution rather than government for political failure is that our Assembly is young. Another is that the referendum in 1997 initially saw no separation between the Assembly and its executive. 

That has changed over time, with the Party of Wales playing a key role in that development. 

In time, a sense of a separate executive and legislature will hopefully deepen in the minds of Welsh people.  

Only then will this “blaming of devolution” issue be overcome.

Wales has come a long way as a nation since that narrow result in 1997. 

It is impossible to imagine what would have happened had Welsh people voted No for a second time. 

The votes that Plaid Cymru and the wider Welsh national movement marshalled in that referendum were essential in securing the narrow Yes vote. 

Without the Party of Wales, devolution would not have happened. 

Equally, the vote would not have been won without Labour and the Liberal Democrats. It was a knife-edge result. Each and every factor came into play and we only just made it.

The settlement delivered by the Welsh Yes vote was considerably weaker than the one delivered to Scotland. 

In Wales, a cautious approach was taken despite a genuine desire for a new style of politics.  

When, in 1999, MSPs in Scotland presided over a reserved powers model through resuming the suspended Scottish Parliament, Welsh AMs were to sit in an entirely new and novel Assembly with restricted powers. 

Plaid Cymru has sought throughout the last 15 years to push the boundaries of devolution. 

By taking the party into coalition government in 2007, my predecessor Ieuan Wyn Jones and his ministerial colleagues were able to ensure that Plaid Cymru was in a position to deliver a law-making parliament, arguably devolution’s most decisive change to date.

The Party of Wales has also been able to deliver a range of bread-and-butter policies that defy the old jibe that we are “obsessed with the constitution.”  

Plaid Cymru ministers in the One Wales government (2007-11) improved policy in agriculture, protected jobs at the height of the recession, provided support for people who were unable to pay their mortgages, introduced the Coleg Cymraeg as well as measures to safeguard the Welsh language, improved north-south transport links, generated more public business for Welsh companies through better procurement and much more. 

Devolution has secured for Wales a political identity of its own, but itself that is not enough. 

The Welsh economy has been in decline since before the start of devolution.  

Plaid Cymru accepts that as far as the economy is concerned, this is not as good as it gets. 

There is no doubt, as the cross-party Silk commission has said, Wales needs greater influence over the economic/ job-creating levers — the controls Wales doesn’t have at present. 

There is no doubt too that turning around the economy requires strong and ambitious leadership.  

Business as usual will only give us the same results as before.  

Ahead of the next Assembly elections in 2016, Plaid Cymru’s focus on the economic regeneration of Wales will intensify. 

Breaking the link between decisions on the Welsh economy being taken in London, often against our interests, will be the next big test for our system of governance. 

The country needs more self-government as well as a strong national party leading its government if we are to pass that test. Plaid Cymru’s cabinet-in-waiting is ready to rise to the challenge.

A stronger, more coherent constitution is a must if we are to build an economy which can enable us to stand on our own two feet.  

Since 1999 none of the constitutional models implemented in Wales have been sustainable. 

Each model has had to be changed after a few years. It therefore makes little sense for there to be so much reluctance, though not on the part of Plaid Cymru, to develop a model of self-government that is meaningful and irreversible, as well as being able to address our economy.

Self-government begins with us determining what powers we wish to share or cede on our own terms, and concludes with a referendum for an independent Wales. 

Our European cousins in Scotland and Catalonia have demonstrated that a meaningful and successful period of self-government is essential for achieving national goals. 

We cannot allow Wales to be marginalised following Scotland’s referendum.  

Are we in Wales prepared to assert ourselves as the Scots are, to develop a more confident vision of our place in these islands and in Europe? 

The answer to that question could well determine devolved politics over the next 15 years. 

The story of devolved Wales to date is one of untapped potential. Wales has all the ingredients to be a successful nation — not only to survive but to develop, adapt and prosper, even as politics on the isles of Britain, Europe and the world continue to change all around us. 

After a decade and a half since the opening of the first Assembly, now is a good time to take more responsibility for our own problems and to look to ourselves to find the solutions. 

Nations, like people, should be allowed to make their own mistakes, and to achieve their own successes. 

As we mark 15 years of devolution and take stock of what devolution has achieved, we can also consider how our autonomy can be further extended so that the politics of the majority in Wales can be better reflected. 

Politics in Wales more often than not contrasts strongly with the neoliberal values that form the basis of the “broken” politics coming out of Westminster.  

Progress in Wales will be built not on the back of despair and negativity but on the basis of hope and confidence.