Toast at Lunch Hosted by Raimonds Vējonis. President of Latvia
Presidential Palace, Riga, Latvia, 18 June 2018
President Vējonis,
Mrs Vējone,
Speaker,
Distinguished members of the Saeima,
Dean,
Ambassadors,
Gabhaim buíochas leat as do chuid focal cineálta anocht a Uachtaráin. Thar ceann Saidhbhín, an tAire Stanton agus ár dToscaireacht ar fad, táimid an-bhuíoch díot.
[As I have just said in Irish, let me thank you for your kind and generous words of welcome here today. On behalf of Sabina, Minister Stanton and our whole Delegation, we are most grateful.]
It is a great honour to join you and to have the opportunity to offer you, on behalf of the people of Ireland, my deepest congratulations as you celebrate the centenary of Latvian independence. The commemoration of the foundation of the Republic of Latvia is a significant moment not only for your own country, but for all those who value the right to self-determination and national liberation. I wish you every success in the celebration of your hard-won liberty.
May I congratulate you too for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Latgale Congress of Latvians last year, which marked the decision of the people of Latgale to join with the people of Vidzeme and Kurzeme on the path to national independence.
We in Ireland, through our ‘Decade of Centenaries’, are also now commemorating formative events of one hundred years ago. In 2016, we marked the centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916, the crucial moment in our long and unremitting struggle for national freedom. The commemorations offered Irish citizens an opportunity to reflect on the ideals, thoughts and actions of those who participated in the Easter Rising, and upon the Ireland that they, by their deeds that Easter Week and in the long struggle that followed, brought into existence.
Conscious of the plurality of political, social and religious traditions on our island, I have sought, in this intense period of public commemoration, to engage in the task of ‘ethical remembering’ by recognising those voices that were, in our past, too often quenched, suppressed, marginalised or disenfranchised, such as women and those who laboured. By adopting a disposition of what the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur has called ‘narrative hospitality’, our commemorations have sought to be open to the perspectives, the stories, the memories and the pains of those with different versions of collective memory.
President Vējonis,
This centenary year of Latvian independence is also an opportunity for all friends of Latvia to celebrate the re-assertion of your place among the nations and the act of shared sovereignty that was involved in your accession to the European Union on the 1st of May 2004 which marked a major milestone in your history, as it did in ours. I am so proud that the ‘Day of Welcomes’ for ten new Member States to the European Union was held in the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland.
We both represent nations with small populations, each of us on the edges of the European Union, but that which lies between us now brings us closer together. The future of our shared Union is vital to our well-being. As nations with so much in common, we share many perspectives regarding the challenges and opportunities before us, as we discovered in our talks this morning.
In an uncertain global landscape, this dialogue is more important than ever, and I very much welcome the recent increase in the level of contacts between Ireland and Latvia at both political and official level. We must ensure that this level of contact is maintained as we seek to give shape to, and to build, a common future for our own countries within a European Union that places social cohesion within and between members as a primary aim. We must share not only our challenges but our opportunities.
On behalf of the people of Ireland, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the deep and profound contribution made by the Latvian community in Ireland. The diversity and vibrancy of our society, and the prosperity of our economy, owes so much to the many peoples who have come to our land, including your own.
As a migratory people, we in Ireland know that the pain of separation that so often accompanies emigration despite all the opportunities offered by new lands. I am sure that many Latvians who now call Ireland home will return to their beautiful homeland. If they do, they will bring with them I hope relationships and memories which will strengthen further the ties that bind our nations.
President Vējonis,
May I now, in this centenary year, propose a toast to all the achievements of the Latvian people as we look forward, in the knowledge of our friendship and solidarity, to a future full of shared possibilities.
Priekā!
Sláinte.
