Speech at a Community Reception
Filoli House San Francisco, 25th October 2015
A dhaoine uaisle agus a chairde. Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo libh inniu.
I am delighted to be here in San Francisco with such a wide cross section of our Irish family this afternoon in the beautiful surroundings of Filoli House. Thank you to Philip Grant, Consul General, for his kind words, and to the Board of Directors of Filoli House for welcoming me and my wife, Sabina, to join you all here this afternoon.
We both welcome the opportunity to visit and meet with the strong and vibrant Irish communities that exist in countries across the globe. Many of those communities go back several generations and continue to evolve and develop through second, third and even fourth generation Irish.
It is impressive to see how the strength of this Irish Diaspora means that, in so many instances, our Irish abroad are leading successful and fulfilled lives in the countries they call home while retaining a deep pride in the unique heritage and culture that they have inherited from parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
We can all be proud of the great contribution our Diaspora has made across the generations to their new homes around the world, making such a significant impact as they have in the areas of business, public service, education, health, the arts and so many other important areas which lie at the heart of a vibrant society.
Today is no different, and I am delighted to have this opportunity to acknowledge and say thank you to the representatives of the Irish community living in San Francisco and the Bay Area who do so much to help each other, to support their homeland of birth in so many ways, and who are such good reputational ambassadors for Ireland.
I am deeply grateful in particular, for the generosity with which our global Irish family unfailingly and generously reaches out a hand of friendship to new Irish emigrants, as they begin the difficult and often lonely task of building new lives in towns and cities far away from family and home.
The contributions of the Irish community to the Bay Area are significant. Indeed the Irish were amongst the first settlers in the San Francisco Bay Area, playing an active and prominent role in the development of this great city.
Not far from here are the reservoirs that feed San Francisco to the North, the result of the ingenuity of Limerick man Michael O’Shaughnessy, who as city engineer of San Francisco at the beginning of the last century oversaw the construction of the Hetch-Hetchy reservoir and water system.
The Irish supplied the Gold Rush prospectors with their tools and supplies, and built the roads and the railways and the dams and the water supply of San Francisco.
Indeed many of the beautiful buildings and famous landmarks of this great city have strong Irish foundations, including the Hibernia Bank headquarters on Jones Street, and the Phelan and Flood buildings on Market Street.
The Irish have always played an important role in the public life of San Francisco, a contribution which stretches back to the mid 19th century when John G. Downey was appointed State Governor, John Conness was elected a U.S. Senator and Frank McCoppin became Mayor of San Francisco.
And of course, the Irish, through their roles in the uniformed services, and as teachers, and nurses and other caring professionals, have played a critical role in building and developing the community life of San Francisco, a role that I know continues through the strong Irish American presence in all of these public services.
Today we witness a new generation of migrants, born and educated in a very different Ireland to that from which so many of their predecessors emigrated. They come here as ambassadors of a modern, innovative and forward-looking Ireland, anxious and willing to play their part in building a world yet unseen. Employed by the flagship companies of Silicon Valley, these recent emigrants contribute their skills and expertise to the building of the networks and infrastructure of the future, pioneering progress in technology as we work to create a sustainable and globally connected world.
We celebrate all of this success, but I am also very conscious of the difficult circumstances in which many undocumented Irish who have travelled here in recent decades find themselves. Many of them have been residing in America for many years. The enormous shadow that lack of official status can throw across an individual’s life and that of their family is immense. We must all continue to hope and work in our different ways so that their situations can be resolved before much more time elapses. I know that many of you here today have already made a great contribution to that work and I thank you for it.
You will all be aware that Ireland has recently come through a chapter of severe economic crisis; a time which brought difficult challenges and much hardship to many of our citizens. We are determined to learn from the experience. We greatly appreciated the support of our Irish-American family, especially the support of influential members of our Diaspora who came forward as advocates, as advisors, as sounding boards for ideas and initiatives to enable us to renew and achieve positive change in Ireland. It was a reminder of our great fortune in having a generous and pro-active global family, who remain deeply connected to the country of their birth or the birth of their forefathers.
And, of course, it was that global family that we relied on this Summer when our nation was stuck by tragedy when the events in Berkeley extinguished six of our brightest lights and dimmed those of seven young men and women. The response of the Irish community in the Bay Area showed the very essence of humanity and the exceptional solidarity that exists within this generous and close-knit community.
I will be visiting Berkeley on Wednesday and I will have the opportunity to meet many of those who assisted the families of those affected, but I know that so many of you here tonight also contributed to the incredible mobilisation of support that took place during those dark days. On behalf of the Irish people, I thank you for all that you have done – it is unforgettable and moved us greatly, and it is deeply appreciated.
Finally, I must say again how wonderful it is to be here tonight with such an impressive, vibrant community of Irish and Irish Americans to celebrate together our Irishness and our friendship. Successive generations of Irishmen and women have made the long journey west to the possibilities and opportunities of America, and then west again to the open and enterprising shores of the Pacific Ocean. Each generation has left its own profound imprint on the landscape of the West Coast of America. You too will leave your indelible mark on your community and your society here as you weave the best of your Irishness with all the possibilities and opportunities of life in San Francisco.
I thank you all for coming here today and wish you continued success as you craft, together, a shared future in this evolving and increasingly interdependent world, full as it is not only of great challenges but also of limitless possibilities - féidearthachtaí gan teorainn.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh agus beirigí libh mo bheannacht ó chroí.