REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE MAYOR OF MILWAUKEE, CITY HALL
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE MAYOR OF MILWAUKEE, CITY HALL, SATURDAY, 20 AUGUST, 2005
Mayor Barrett, Governor Doyle, Aldermen, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning to you all and thank you for your warm welcome to the city of Milwaukee. Mayor Barrett, thank you for your hospitality in this beautiful City Hall. It is good to be here and to have the opportunity to meet you all this morning.
As you know, my primary reason for coming to Milwaukee is to attend the 25th anniversary Irish Fest. Milwaukee Irish Fest is known far and wide as one of the highlights of the Irish cultural calendar in America. People travel from all over the Mid-West and from further afield, to Irish Fest each year. Many more – musicians, dancers, artists, sports people - travel from Ireland to take part. I am very much looking forward to experiencing Irish Fest for myself later today.
The City of Milwaukee, and indeed the State of Wisconsin, have connections with Ireland which have endured over many generations. Governor Doyle is one of many here this morning with Irish heritage. With its roots in German and Irish immigration to the Mid-West in the 19th century, Milwaukee today is home to a vibrant Irish community. It is good to be with so many members of that community here this morning including those from the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center and the Shamrock Club of Milwaukee. It is heartening to be amongst such friends, people who cherish and express their Irish heritage.
I have travelled many times to this great country and I am always moved to see the footprints of Irish men and women of long ago who came to these shores often bringing with them little except the hope of a better life for themselves and their children – a life which their native land could not provide. Their stories are part of the story of the Irish nation and we in Ireland are both proud of and humbled by what the Irish in America overcame and what they went on to achieve.
The people of Milwaukee today combine many different ethnic heritages, of which Irish is only one. The interaction and interplay of such different cultures and identities is an integral part of the energy and dynamism which characterises 21st century Milwaukee. In recent years, we in Ireland have, in our turn, seen our society enriched by the arrival of people of many nationalities who have come to make new lives for themselves and their families in Ireland. The Irish nation now has an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen and deepen our connections with other nations at home as well as abroad.
Any of you who are regular visitors to Ireland will know that it has seen many profound changes in recent years. Our economic success of the last ten years and more has in many ways changed the face of contemporary Ireland. Our work to bring lasting peace to Northern Ireland continues and has already transformed the lives of many people in an enormously positive way. We have been consistently supported and encouraged in this vital work by our friends throughout the United States and I want to express our appreciation to you, our friends here in Milwaukee for your support for the peace process.
Mayor Barrett, shortly after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, you spoke most eloquently in Congress highlighting the George F. Keenan Forum on Prospects for Peace in Northern Ireland. You spoke about the work being done by Irish-Americans here in Milwaukee saying that “to finally see the prospect of peace manifested in the peace agreement is an accomplishment in which the Irish in Milwaukee, and around the nation, can surely take pride.”
This is a justifiable pride because people in Milwaukee have made a substantial contribution for which they deserve our heartfelt thanks. I would like to thank two people in particular, both well known to you in City Hall. Mike Brady and Terry Perry have done a tremendous job as co-Presidents of the Milwaukee Ulster Project. Much wonderful work has been done over the past 25 years in bringing children from across the political divide in Northern Ireland to visit Milwaukee and I would like also to express my appreciation to all those families in Milwaukee who have welcomed those young people into their homes through the years.
As we continue to build the future the people of Northern Ireland so richly deserve, we very much appreciate the continuing encouragement of President Bush and his Administration, our friends on both sides of the aisle in Congress, and above all, in communities and cities like Milwaukee. We know that the strong and enduring bond between Ireland and the United States means that we can always rely on your friendship and support.
We, in Ireland deeply value our special ties with the United States and it is very important to us that we continue to foster and sustain these ties into the future. With all the changes in Ireland in recent years, I am glad to say that it is an increasingly popular destination for visitors from the US, including the Mid-West, who are assured of the traditional warm welcome. The exchange of experience and ideas in this way strengthens and deepens the relationships between our peoples.
The ocean which separates us seems to get narrower by the year and the introduction this Summer of additional daily direct flights between Chicago and Dublin will make it even easier for us to welcome visitors from the Mid-West. I have no doubt that your experience at Irish Fest this weekend will tempt many of you to make the trip and either renew your friendship with Ireland, or discover it on a first time visit.
I am glad to say that the trade relations between Ireland and the Mid West are also strong and healthy, as we can see from the fact that many Irish companies have visited the region in the last few months alone.
Our Government Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, also met with key Irish and US firms in Indiana and Michigan in May and our Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan came to the Mid-West in April to meet a number of major Irish food firms who are represented here. I’m glad to see that the people of the Mid-West can get a taste of Ireland close to home.
The frequency and quality of these contacts I’m happy to say are proof that Ireland’s links with the Mid-West are very close indeed.
My thanks once again for your warm welcome to Martin and me to Milwaukee. I am looking forward to seeing more of this city during my visit. Along with visiting Irish Fest later today, I will also visit the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, home to the School of Celtic Studies which plays such an important part in strengthening cultural and academic links between Ireland and Milwaukee. I also intend to visit your very fine Art Museum and take a trip on Lake Michigan – without which, I’m told, no visit to Milwaukee would be complete.
Mayor Barrett, Governor Doyle, Ladies and Gentlemen, go raibh míle maith agaibh, thank you very much.