ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY McALEESE TO THE IRISH STUDIES CENTRE
‘Ireland and Europe: Past, Present and Future’
Is cúis mhór áthais dom bheith anseo libh agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as an chuireadh agus an fáilte fíor-Ghaelach a chur sibh romham.
I am delighted to be visiting the University of North London and to have this opportunity to take part in the prestigious Public Lecture Series at the Irish Studies Centre. I would particularly like to thank Vice-Chancellor Roper and Professor Hickman for their kind words of welcome and you the members of this audience for your interest in Irish affairs.
The topic creates a lot of scope. My position as Irish Head of State narrows that scope somewhat for I have no role in making policy or in taking sides in current controversies so there are limits which I hope you will understand. But what I can do I hope, is to draw out and underline to you the very substantial elements of continuity and consensus in the Irish approach to European issues, as they have evolved over the years. Moreover, my view is that those elements of continuity and consensus have set the trajectory for the future and will continue to inform and underpin the position of Ireland in Europe and Ireland on Europe.
People in Ireland, as in Britain, sometimes talk about having “joined Europe” in 1973. There is a double fallacy in that statement. First, Europe is considerably more than the European Union, itself a still youthful phenomenon of twentieth century origin. Secondly, geography had long since placed Ireland in Europe albeit on the continent’s western periphery and that relationship has been a shaping feature of both Irish history and European history for centuries. The sea around our island home has always been more bridge than barrier. While the past thirty years represent our most structured and concentrated voluntary interaction with our European neighbours, our shared history begins long before that and today’s membership of the Union has introduced us anew to those ancient and historic ties.
It is not possible to tell the story of Europe without telling the story of Ireland and the Irish. Since the first settlers crossed to County Antrim some 7000 years ago, our people have been made up of and replenished by successive waves of newcomers from across Europe: Celts, Vikings, Normans, Scots and English, Huguenots, Palatines and Jews from the old Tsarist Empire. The traffic was not all one way for we also took our story to the rest of Europe and a fascinating story it has been. One of the earliest written cultures in Europe, Irish medieval culture was third in line of significance behind Greek and Roman. It was Irish monks, like Columbanus, Fergal and Killian who helped bring Christianity to continental Europe. Travel any part of modern Europe and you will find churches, villages, towns, named after them, their legacy woven deeply into the fabric of life whether in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France or even here in Britain.
In turn, the reform of Irish Christianity in the twelfth century was part of a Europe-wide phenomenon. The Spanish and the French armies have come to Ireland’s aid in times past in hope of driving the English from our shores. Indeed this year we commemorated the 400th Anniversary of the Battle of Kinsale in which Ireland and her ally Spain were roundly defeated. With that defeat came the utter collapse of the old Gaelic Order, a renegotiation of the relationship between Britain and Spain and a brooding resentment of English power in Ireland. In 1690 the Battle of the Boyne was at the time a key event in a European war but its repercussions were also to have distinctly local and long-standing effects. A century later the ideology and example of the French Revolution inspired the United Irishmen to dream of an Ireland free from imperialism and oppression a view not shared by another Irishman, Edmund Burke, whose belief in the aristocracy’s right to govern found favour far from home. The great parliamentarian Daniel O’Connell was a hero too, not just of Irish Catholics but of liberals throughout Europe. Indeed he was highly enough thought of to have been considered for the throne of Belgium!
In the century just past, thousands of Irishmen from every part of Ireland and every tradition fought and died in British uniforms in Flanders, Northern France and Gallipoli - as I was proud to commemorate some three years ago in a joint ceremony at Messines with Queen Elizabeth and with King Albert of the Belgians. Around the same time, a great modernist novel - its title and much of its structure taken from one of the seminal works of European literature - was being completed by an Irishman who lived for long stretches in Trieste, Zurich and Paris. The novel “Ulysses” and its author James Joyce, were quintessentially Irish, irrefutably European. Around the same time too, forces were gathering in Ireland to take on the might of the Empire at home. The partition of Ireland set an agenda between these islands out of which came skewed relationships, violence and an intractable conflict which it has taken the combined energies of many participants including our colleagues in the European Union to bring to a resolution. Many aspects of Ireland’s history, and of its relationship with the rest of Europe, are unique and distinctive. Regrettably the only European neighbour with whom our relationship has been historically fraught and problematic is Great Britain but thankfully things on that front are changing - and for the better!
Ireland’s perspective on Europe is, therefore, strongly and irrevocably marked by the realities of our own singular history and geography. Around the table that is the European Union, no one has precisely the same story to tell, no two have precisely the same perspective and so none of us is more or less than one essential piece of the jigsaw puzzle which is Europe’s past and Europe’s future. To understand ourselves fully we must also see our piece of that puzzle in its right relationship with every other piece. Until we do, Europe is “unfinished business” to quote President Adamkus of Lithuania. That notion of Europe as unfinished business, as a journey towards the very completion of ourselves is something close to the heart of the Irish people.
I am uncomfortable with the notion that there is a Europe of centre and a Europe of margins, that some are more included than others. Ireland’s physical peripherality has never been a barrier to seeing ourselves as significant contributors to European life. It is true that the forces of history have kept parts of our common European homeland closed to us for too long but life behind those “iron curtains”, grim though it was, did not stop. It continued its work of changing people’s lives, of recasting European history, pushing to new extremes the experience of our European family. Today those curtains have collapsed and new healthy relationships are possible where once they were not. New voices draw our attention to European wells of insight and hurt, of loss and transcendence from which we can all draw strength and wisdom today. I have felt this very strongly on my visits to the countries of central and eastern Europe which are currently in negotiation to join the European Union. The people of Slovenia, or Estonia, of Hungary or the Czech Republic do not feel that they are in some way joining Europe: they are and always have been in and of Europe. In fact during many of their darkest days, it was this certainty which gave them their courage and their hope. On accession to the European Union, this great adventure in consensus building and partnership, when they sit around the growing Union table, they will bring their own piece of that jigsaw puzzle. When the pieces are in place we will look at Europe differently and at ourselves differently- we will each have something to learn and something to teach.
There are parallels in the journey which lies ahead for Europe and the journey Ireland has already gone. While much of the commentary on Ireland’s successful membership of the Union has focused on our remarkable economic progress there are other successes, more difficult to measure but tangible nonetheless. Ireland has grown in confidence as it showcased its culture to a wider audience and as the genius of its men and women made a distinctive and distinguished mark on European Union politics. I have been very proud to learn as President that many applicant States look to Ireland for reassurance and encouragement as a model of a small state which has benefited immensely from its membership of the European Union, has made a solid contribution to it, punching way above its weight, while also successfully retaining, indeed developing, its own identity and culture.
When we joined the then EEC, the focus was very definitely on the likely economic benefits, above all for Irish agriculture and our rural population. Those expectations have been fully realised. The Common Agricultural Policy has helped to change the face of rural Ireland, overwhelmingly for the better. While the numbers directly employed in agriculture have, as was inevitable, continued to fall, it still remains a more significant economic sector in Ireland than in any other current EU Member State, a fact borne in upon us when we witnessed the spontaneous widespread community response to the Foot and Mouth problem earlier this year. Urban and rural Ireland came together in a magnificent effort to keep the problem from our door and that unity of focus was well repaid by our success in doing just that.
The economic benefits of Irish EU membership have gone well beyond agriculture. Even though the Irish economy, like other economies throughout Europe and the world, is now experiencing a downturn, exacerbated by the terrible events of September 11, the huge progress of recent years will prove enduring. In the last decade, total employment has risen from about one million to one and three-quarter million. Unemployment has dropped from twenty percent to under four percent. An economy which missed the first industrial revolution is now the world’s largest exporter of computer software. At the very core of our Irish identity, however, is an overwhelming impulse towards full social inclusion and equality of opportunity. We believe that every life lived in poverty and disadvantage is a loss not just to the human person who never ever knows his or her true strength, but it is also a huge loss to family, to community and to country, weakening the fabric of social cohesion and social resilience. So poverty and inequality remain serious issues for this generation, the first ever in Ireland to have the insight and the resources to seedbed an Ireland where those things are consigned to the past. The progress made these past years is very encouraging. The level of national prosperity has risen beyond anything we could have imagined when we joined the Union but to those who are poor and underachieving, in a climate which thrives on the energy of success, the world of the marginalised can seem more remote than ever. Their future in Europe has to be a future at the centre. The embrace of Europe has to be a wide embrace drawing in, unlocking, empowering and using well, the widest talent base available to us. So, while a lot has been and continues to be achieved, some elements of “unfinished business” remain for us in Ireland too.
Here again, Ireland’s past experience augurs well for Europe’s future. Ireland is not particularly rich in natural resources but our greatest natural resource lies in the genius of our people. For many generations that genius was unable to fully flourish on Irish soil. Our biggest export was our people. Then came the farsighted decisions of the 1960’s and 70’s, to invest heavily in the kind of education which would position our young people to capture the emerging second industrial revolution. After the very difficult years of the later 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, sound policy-making by successive Governments, allied to our robust social partnership model, were also decisively important in setting Ireland on the pathway to legendary growth and prosperity. The tide of outward migration has been reversed for the first time in a century, huge numbers of young people proceed into third level education and Ireland has attracted a remarkable level of inward investment - especially from United States investors anxious to trade in Europe. While Britain remains our single most important and valued trading partner, the excessive dependence on that British market has vanished and Ireland exports to the world at large.
The economic benefits of membership have clearly been wisely used and have produced great results. At a deeper level, our membership, like our participation in the work of the United Nations, has helped give to our people the self-confidence and pride that comes from seeing that we can and do, as a state and as a people, make a distinctive and valued contribution to the wider international community. We are inescapably small but very determined not to be ignored or silenced ever again. Today’s young Irish men and women grow up in a country which enjoys huge international respect and which by dint of sheer effort makes a significant contribution to the welfare and well-being of the global human family, considerably in excess of the dictates of its size. They also have the privilege of growing up in a continent which grew sick of bloodshed and war, which grievously wasted the first part of the twentieth century in the worst violent warfare in human history and which forged a determination to make peace a priority and partnership the pathway to that peace.
The noble, central objective of the EU’s founding fathers - reconciliation between old enemies and the maintenance of peace and stability on a continent so ravaged by war - has been triumphantly realised within the member states. It must never ever be forgotten why the nations of Europe travelled this road. It must never be forgotten that this phenomenal journey has barely just begun. Half a century in human history is a relatively modest timescale and yet already the scale of achievement has been considerable and deeply encouraging. It is no exaggeration to say that the Peace Process in Northern Ireland and its culmination in the Good Friday Agreement emerged from the evolving European culture of consensus, of respect for difference, of dialogue, of partnership among equals. Membership of the Union has brought us an increasingly sophisticated range of responses to problems and a much bigger well to draw inspiration and wisdom from.
As I hinted earlier, EU membership has been critically important in enabling Ireland to reassess and recalibrate our primary international relationship - that with Britain. History had made that relationship fraught but working together in Europe helped foster a new relationship of mutual trust and understanding which in turn allowed the two Governments to work closely and effectively together. The Good Friday Agreement and the great strides which have been made in Northern Ireland in recent weeks have all been made possible by this partnership which has been so well nourished in the meeting rooms of European capitals. Moreover, the direct impact of the European Union on the resolution of the conflict has also been immense. The European example has been an unfailing source of inspiration and has also offered, and continues to offer, generous financial support for the promotion of peace and reconciliation within Northern Ireland, and for the development of co-operation between North and South, especially in the border area.
Given the pace and extent of the changes underway in the European Union, particularly enlargement, it is not surprising that there is a growing debate, both within the Union’s institutions and, more importantly, outside them, about the future direction of the Union, and about the web of relationships between the Union itself, the Member States and the Union citizens. As you will all know, these issues have taken on a particular piquancy and urgency in Ireland in the light of the outcome of the referendum on the Treaty of Nice.
As I said earlier, it is not for me as President to comment in any detail on such matters of current political concern. But there are some matters of general interest and concern that are worth commenting on.
It is argued that there is a sense of disconnection between the Union and the people. To some degree this probably should not come as a real surprise. An intricate and multi-faceted body such as the EU is not easily transformed into an object of love, affection or personal attachment. Its nature conduces at times towards obscurity and so, sadly, despite all of the achievements of the Union, many people say they feel distanced from it. I admit that it is easier to define the problem than to find a remedy but at least it has rightly been identified as a central theme of the next phase of debate about the Union’s institutions. The so-called “Future of Europe” debate has the potential to be a radically defining debate about the nature of Union citizenship. And now the Irish Government is taking that debate directly to the Irish people in our newly-established National Forum on Europe. Given the significance of the European Union for the citizens of Ireland, and for people throughout Europe, it is alarming and regrettable that levels of awareness of its policies and institutions are so low. This was underscored by the poor turnout in the Nice Referendum, and by the findings of a recently published opinion poll carried out on behalf of the Commission. It is right that people should know what is happening in the European Union and that they should have easy access to information. Equally it is essential that the citizens of the Union care about what is happening and make it their business to be as well informed as they can be, irrespective of what views they may have.
Whatever approach people may take to the future development of the Union, and notwithstanding the question of public identification with the Union, there remains in Ireland a strong positive consensus that membership has on the whole been to our benefit. Support in Ireland for the enlargement of the Union remains strong. Even the opponents of the Nice Treaty were at pains to emphasise that they were not opposed to enlargement as such. That is a message which I tried to convey when in Slovenia just after the vote, and I know that the Government, at all levels, has also been determined to convince the applicant states of our desire not to block their accession. The people of Ireland rightly see many similarities between themselves and the peoples of central and eastern Europe, in particular; we see one another as likely future allies and partners in an enlarged Union; and above all else, the simple message that we owe to others the same chances that we got ourselves has a powerful resonance with the Irish people.
I am sure that the Irish people, just like the people of other Member States, want the Union’s continued evolution to be based on and to respect the diversity and variety of the nation states which make it up. We do not see each other just as markets to sell and buy from - important though commerce is to each of us - but we see each other as having a particular experiential landscape, a cultural shape, an historical story, which in themselves are great natural resources to be shared with a wider European audience. We do not want to see any nation weakened by membership, any culture obliterated by membership, any language overwhelmed by membership, any ethnic group made to feel small by membership. Ireland has a deep and painful memory of times and tides in its history when it was the victim of all those things. That is the past. The future is a place where strong self- confident nations work in respectful partnership with other strong self-confident nations and where their very strength and confidence comes from knowing their neighbours well and working comfortably with them. The world has a desperate need for credible and sustained witnesses to the core values at the heart of the Union, tolerance, openness and generosity. It has an urgent need of humanly decent models of engagement between neighbours, of which the Union is a fine and formidable example.
We in Ireland want to see the Union, in its dealings with the rest of the world, adhere to and be an effective champion of those core values and of that consensus-based model for peace and shared prosperity. There are in our world too many places in which violent conflict robs generation after generation of their chance to blossom in peace and freedom. There are too many places where people waken up each day to the ache of hunger, the threat of killer diseases and the paralysis of political corruption. They need a Europe which uses its strength to promote the causes of global peace and freedom from hunger - for if Europe is unfinished business then there can be no doubt that our common global homeland is also unfinished business.
The scale of the work to be done is awesome but then the twentieth century visionaries who dared to imagine a united Europe instead of a fighting Europe were people who were utterly unafraid of the size of the task. Much more frightening to them was the kind of world we would drift towards if they did not make their vision real. Half a century away from the horror of the Second World War it may be difficult to feel the intensity of their commitment but it is important to remind ourselves every so often of the sheer nobility of purpose of this Union of European nations. As the Union faces into an enlargement process which will double its size and multiply both its vision and its opportunities, I hope a new generation all over Europe will grow passionate again about this great shared journey in democracy, peace and prosperity. No generation in Ireland has ever been as well educated, as culturally assertive, as achieving as today’s generation. No generation has ever known its strength in the way this generation has. That strength draws from many sources and it travels in many different directions. I have no doubt that Europe is such a source and Europe is also our destination. Tomorrow’s Europe will benefit from this supremely confident small country which, above all members of the Union, is the one whose story of achievement vindicates the best hopes of the Union’s founders. Tomorrow’s Ireland will benefit from membership of a Union of equals, each utterly different, each revealing to the other its language, its music, its arts, its culture, its genius, each bringing the giftedness of its own people to the Union table. We will see a Union of nations working hand in hand to give a generation of young Europeans their first, the world’s first taste of their own strength- a strength used to build happiness and fulfilment for the first time in our continent’s damaged history. Ireland looks forward to playing its part in healing Europe, and watching its children grow healthy, wealthy and wise.
Thank you.