REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT AN IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION SOFIA, BULGARIA
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT AN IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION SOFIA, BULGARIA THURSDAY, 26TH MARCH, 2009
Dia dhíbh, a chairde Gael ‘s a chairde d’Éireann. Conas ata sibh go léir um thrathnóna?
Добър вечер дами и господа, скъпи приятели!
Mr President, Mrs Parvanova, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a really great pleasure for me to be here with you this evening. This is my first visit to Bulgaria and I have been looking forward to it for a long, long time. Since my arrival, I have not felt like a stranger - my strong sense is, instead, of being among good friends. Thank you all for the warmth of your welcome. Míle bhuíochas díbh.
It is also the first visit by an Irish President to this country and this, in itself, is a sign of the transformation in the relationship between Bulgaria and Ireland that has taken place.
The pioneers in this process, of course, are the Irish people who are here tonight and who have made Bulgaria their home. In your lives here, you create new connections and new bonds of friendship between Ireland and Bulgaria. I wish you all, and your families, good health, every happiness and success. You are our unofficial and unpaid ambassadors, spreading the image of Ireland through your lived lives. The Irish have a gift for friendship and it travels the world with them wherever they go. I am sure Ambassador Keating, who has the privilege and pleasure of being Ireland’s first resident Ambassador to Bulgaria, is delighted to have your help and assistance in promoting Ireland in Bulgaria. Of course Geoffrey is also ably assisted by his wonderful wife Jane and his excellent colleagues - Irish and Bulgarian and Irish-Bulgarian - in the Embassy here and I would like to thank them particularly for their hard work in bringing this long-awaited visit to fruition.
Not so long ago the people of Ireland and Bulgaria were relatively unknown to one another and now our futures are twinned. In a very short few years we have made up for the distance of geography and the ravages of history. Trade and investment between us has flourished and, judging by today’s business lunch hosted by Enterprise Ireland, Irish and Bulgarian companies are set to get to know each other even better. Huge numbers of Irish visitors come to Bulgaria on holiday each year and they all talk about it when they get back - so in Ireland there are many unofficial advocates for Bulgaria as a great tourist destination. We now have direct air links and every week hundreds of people travel between our capitals, doing business, visiting relations, making new friends, building the bridges of human care and connectedness that stop us from being strangers to one another and make us friends.
There are exciting cultural exchanges - in music, dance, photography and literature and our universities are working together on new collaborative projects, as I saw for myself this morning at the opening of a conference at Sofia University which brought together Irish and Bulgarian experts in the field of literature, history and media.
I then had the privilege of opening a breathtaking exhibition by Ivo Hadjimishev about the Aran Islands at the Ethnographic Museum. I encourage everyone here to go to see it and to spread the word. The Aran Islands occupy an almost mystical place in the Irish consciousness and, for the first time, a Bulgarian artist brings a stunning new perspective to them.
I felt very proud today meeting two Irish people, John O’Gorman and Mark O’Sullivan, who work here in Bulgaria in the field of disability services and who are helping to transform lives. I was deeply moved by their work and the work that is being done here with the support of the Government and the regional authorities, to bring about change in the lives of those who are in all our cultures so easily overlooked. We are a fortunate generation to live in this very changed context when the divisions that once characterised Europe have been healed from the Atlantic to the Black Sea.
The European Union is now our common homeland. It is a noble project that has no precedent in our history. For those of us who experienced imperialism and colonisation, it is a matter of pride that we volunteered to join this Union as equals and, as partners, we cherish a common set of values and each day we see the truth of the Irish proverb which says “Ní neart go chur le chéile” – it is by working together that we will be the strongest.
Ireland and Bulgaria are among the ancient lands of Europe, with roots that are deeper than recorded history. We are among the younger states of Europe, having struggled long to win independence and, at last, succeeding. Once strangers, we are now friends, more than that, our children have a shared future. You are the people who introduce us to one another, who open up Ireland’s rich culture to Bulgaria and Bulgaria’s rich culture to Ireland. It was great to see Bulgarian mummers taking part in our St. Patrick’s Day Parade and we will relish the soccer match next Saturday in Dublin’s Croke Park when Ireland and Bulgaria meet, each hoping to win and yet to remain friends.
In music and dance, Ireland and Bulgaria have unique and wonderful traditions. Tonight I am very proud to share with you the very best of our tradition. I hope you enjoy the evening,
Gurb fada buan sibh ‘s go raibh míle, míle maith agaibh.
Мерси много!
Приятно гледане!
Thank you very much - enjoy the show!