REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A DINNER ON THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF CO-OPERATION IRELAND
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A DINNER IN ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN ON THE OCCASION OF THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF CO-OPERATION IRELAND
Dia dhíbh a cháirde agus fáilte go léir go dtí Áras an Uachtaráin anocht.
Good evening everybody. You are all very welcome to Áras an Uachtaráin tonight as we celebrate an important milestone in the history of Co-operation Ireland. It is now twenty-five years since the founders of Co-operation Ireland came together and formed what was then known as Co-operation North with the objective of promoting peace in a new and practical way, and to work to develop understanding and contact between the two parts of the island. I doubt if anyone could have imagined at that time, the hugely improved political situation that Co-operation Ireland would be operating in 25 years later on, though they hoped for better times to come and worked hard to make them happen.
A lot can change in 25 years, as we all know and it is difficult for the younger generation to imagine a world where everyone does not carry a mobile phone, and where microwaves and computers are not as commonplace as cups and saucers. Happily, it is also becoming difficult for that generation to remember a time when this island was divided by conflict. We have now a truly blessed generation who we fervently hope will never know the terrible waste and hurt that others lived through - a generation that takes it for granted that there will be no bombs and no murders and no threat to them as they go about their daily lives.
We live in a very small world, and our island of Ireland is but a small part of that small world. A very good friend to Ireland, George Mitchell recently quoted William Sloane Coffin, the US peace activist, who said "It's not them and us; it's just us." We share this island. We are neighbours to one another. We could be good and true friends to one another. Living with enmity and hatred is hard and depressing. It shows human nature at its worst. Living with peace and friendship makes life worth living. It shows human nature at its best. Cross-Border Co-operation is about introducing us to the best in each other, creating opportunities for friendship and trust to blossom.
Cooperation Ireland has helped to create a new climate in which we can offer each other respect and friendship without compromising anything we hold dear. In fact with your help we are all learning that the more we respect the otherness of others the more we ourselves are respected and worthy of respect. We are also learning that peacemaking and friendship building have very practical mutual benefits - the doubling of North-South trade in the seven years up to 2000 and increases in overseas visitors at a time of general decline in international tourism, to name but two of many. It is no coincidence that the founder of the organisation, the remarkable Dr Brendan O’Regan, was a businessman and entrepreneur, a man who knew that old thinking led to stagnation and that new alliances bring new creative energy and new opportunities.
Co-operation Ireland has encouraged and supported many businesses which have established cross-border links and at the same time it has worked towards the widest social inclusion, so that the benefits of peace and prosperity cascade right down through all sectors of society, giving everyone a stake in the future and a reason to hope.
The varied nature of the projects supported by Co-operation Ireland is so wide that I couldn’t reasonably even touch on them all in one evening but it embraces youth organisations, sporting events, community groups, school exchanges, cross-border friendship building, work with the media, research and policy analysis as well as creating a business climate which encourages investment and jobs growth. And then there is the wide range of fund raising activities which take place every year, both sporting and corporate in nature, all of them essential to keep this very important show on the road. The spectrum of support runs from Colin Farrell to Joe Dolan which is fairly impressive and a measure of the respect it has earned the hard way. That respect can be seen too in the financial support received from the Government, through grants from the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Peace and Reconciliation Fund and in the role played by Co-operation Ireland as an Intermediary Funding Body for the European Union’s Peace II Programme.
The work is far from over for this plant of peace is fragile yet though growing more robust by the day. It continues to need champions to reveal the full potential of the hard-won and popularly acclaimed Good Friday Agreement. It is the democratically chosen template for the future and with goodwill on all sides it is capable of making Northern Ireland a happy place for all its citizens and making this a prosperous island shared by good neighbours.
Co-operation Ireland’s work shortens the road to that future and I wish all its staff, volunteers, supporters, funders, benefactors and beneficiaries every success as they face into the next twenty-five years, knowing they have survived much and achieved much this past quarter century. What would things have been like without you we will never fully know but we do know for certain they would have been considerably worse and the journey to the future a lot longer and harder. Thank you for shortening the journey and congratulations on a hard-earned silver jubilee.
Go maire sibh. Go raibh maith agaibh.