REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT CONCERT AND RECEPTION GRAND THÉATRE, LUXEMBOURG
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT CONCERT AND RECEPTION GRAND THÉATRE, LUXEMBOURG THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER, 2009
Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, distinguished guests, léif Dammen an Hären, e schéine gudden Owend.
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
Día dhíbh go léir. Tá an-áthas orainn bheith anseo libh tráthnona. As our visit draws to a close, we would like to convey our heartfelt gratitude to our hosts, Their Royal Highnesses, the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, as well as to Prime Minister Juncker and the staff of the Ville de Luxembourg, the St. Willibrord Basilica and Museum, the Mairie of Echternach and of course, to the people of Luxembourg who have turned out to greet us at various intervals during our journey through this delightful country.
I also wish to thank my fellow Irishmen and women who have preceded me to Luxembourg and who have been such great ambassadors for Ireland, her character, culture and contribution. Wherever our people are in the world, there you will find the undefined borders of our nation and you will also find men and women whose lives have opened up Ireland to their new neighbours and adopted homelands.
The Grand Duchy is home to about 1,500 Irish people and of course they have formed themselves into a galaxy of Irish organisations many of which are represented here this evening. I would particularly like to congratulate the representatives of the Irish Club of Luxembourg, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. Some members of the Gaelic Sports Club of Luxembourg are also present. Last year they celebrated their 30th anniversary, as well as some very impressive wins over other GAA clubs in Europe. And as if that wasn’t enough Irish culture for one small country to absorb, Luxembourg is also home to branches of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann, the traditional Irish music and dance organisation, the Cumman Gaelach for Irish language speakers, and a Rose of Tralee committee who are all represented this evening too.
I have also heard that St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in some style here and it is like most things Irish something to be shared with others and to draw the stranger, the neighbour, the colleague into vibrant friendship. The connections made here by our Irish family are of profound importance for they make lasting bridges heart to heart and handshake to handshake. You draw us more closely into each other’s orbit, introducing us to one another, even produce children who share roots both here and in Ireland. You help reinforce not just the Irish family abroad but the human family and especially the united family of Europe.
It is almost impossible for any Irish person including a President to be the first person to visit any place on the globe. The way from Ireland to Luxembourg was long paved by the medieval monks who set sail from Ireland to spread the Christian gospel. Showing that Ireland’s relationship with England was not all about conflict, the most famous of these monks from Ireland an Englishman known to you as Willibrord. He was educated in Ireland and arrived here in the company of several Irish monks and he has left a lasting legacy as the Patron Saint of Luxembourg, and the centre of learning which he established at Echternach. These are the roots and foundation stones of our relationship but you are the people who ensure that in each generation we get to know each other anew.
We may no longer be the island of saints and scholars but we are an island of peacemakers and committed Europeans. Just as the European Union turned the tide of European history and replaced the waste of historic enmity with the dynamic of democratic partnership, so too the centuries-old conflict in Ireland has been laid to rest and a new culture of consensus is gradually consolidating. Ireland’s people are at the heart of building peace and prosperity in Europe. I have met great interest here in the result of Ireland’s recent referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. It was overwhelmingly carried by a two to one majority, with a 67.1% Yes vote, showcasing Ireland’s faith in the Treaty and the Union and the Union’s mindful care for the particular concerns of member States as well as for the engine of dynamism that arises from consensus. Here in Luxembourg which was a founder of the Union and a believer in the optimistic vision which underpinned it from the beginning, it is a privilege to enunciate once again the commitment Ireland has to this great and unrivalled European project and how happy we are to have such a partner as Luxembourg in our journey through the storms and rarer calms of life. I will be sorry to leave this welcoming and wonderful place but I hope that tonight each of us will in our smiles and chat, our handshakes and our networking reinforce the many firm bridges which keep us linked and keep us fervent friends.
Go n’éirí libh, best wishes and merci villmols thank you very much. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.