REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION ON WEDNESDAY, 6 MARCH, 2002
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION ON WEDNESDAY, 6 MARCH, 2002
I am delighted to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin today, to the place that has been my home for the last four years. This house tells the story of the shared history of this island and its nearest neighbour through the centuries, a history that is captured well in our visitor centre which I recommend you take a little time to view later.
Built in the mid 18th century as a hunting lodge, it was bought by the British Government some twenty years later and for the next one hundred and fifty years it served as the Viceregal Lodge, frequently visited by the British Monarchs and their families and the home to the Monarch’s representatives in Ireland. One of the most recent visitors to the house was His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales just a few short weeks ago. And for those among you with a keen interest in military matters there was a full regiment billeted here at one time.
In 1938 this house became the Official Residence of the President of Ireland and has been home to all Presidents since. Today the stories of all those people and all those they represented are captured under its roof. It draws together the different strands of our history, giving to each its space, acknowledging that no-one story has ownership of history and like strands in a rope we have shaped and been shaped by each other.
Like this house, the history of this island is a shared history – with different sets of memories – different interpretations of events – different perspectives on the outcome of these events. The pages of our shared history deal with a complex set of relationships – giving accounts of the storms and calm – of the victories and defeats – and of the fortunes and misfortunes of the peoples and traditions of this island. All too often we have been content to ransack history for ammunition with which to denigrate those from whom we differ and there are many instances of stories only half told or ignored which when restored to memory force us to look differently at the past and allow us to build a better future.
Among the stories which in recent times has helped us move forward with greater honesty and generosity has been the story of the thousands of Irishmen Catholic and Protestant, Unionist and Nationalist who fought and died as comrades in the First World War. The inauguration of the Peace Tower at Messines in their memory was one of those days when you can feel history shift under your feet and it was a day of great pride for me as along with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and His Majesty King Albert, we brought the lives of those forgotten and overlooked men from the obscurity of shoe-boxes in the attic, to a place of shared respect. On that day I recalled that none of us has the power to change the past, but it is possible to remember it differently.
We are a fortunate generation, the first to truly feel the weight of history lifting from our shoulders as we work together to create a new and happier future for this island, a future which is sensitive to the identities and ambitions of all its children.
So accustomed have we become to seeing ourselves as the objects and not the subjects of our own history, that perhaps we do not yet fully understand the extent to which the weight of the past is now lifting and opening new possibilities to us. We do not yet know our own strength for so much of that strength has in the past been wasted in conflict or in contempt. Today a huge collective political and community effort has been invested in a future characterised by respectful friendships and effective mutually beneficial partnerships between those who share the island. Making friends takes effort but the easiest bridge to build is the one made in a handshake between strangers - it is the simplest pathway to friendship.
Today is about building and strengthening and reaffirming friendships. I know that some of you may have found it difficult to commit to such a visit but the important thing is that you did come, you have made an important gesture and one I thank you for. I hope that as you leave here today, you will do so a little more heartened and hopeful for the future, for the continued strengthening and deepening of the respect and tolerance and friendship and understanding that is developing between the traditions on this island and between this island and its neighbour. Much has been done, indeed we have much to be grateful for and with God’s help and a little more of the determination and sound common sense and good political leadership that has got us this far, the road ahead will be a good one to travel, for we will travel it together. There is a saying in Irish - two shortens the road and it is true but only true if the company has something to share with each other, a story, a yarn, an insight which is new and fresh and only if there is genuine curiosity about each other. We have a great chance to shorten the road to peace, prosperity and partnership by being grateful for the differences which in the past provoked fear or disinterest but today provokes a joyful and hope-filled curiosity.
My thanks to Chief of Staff General Colm Mangan, to Colonel Dorcha Lee and to Colonel Harvey Bicker for their commitment and hard work which made today’s event possible.
I would like to thank Violinist, Mona McMahon, who played so beautifully for us today and once again to thank you all for coming.