REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF NOTRE DAME
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF NOTRE DAME AND NOTRE DAME’S IRELAND COUNCIL
Is cúis mhór áthais dom bheith anseo libh agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as an chuireadh agus an fáilte fíor-Ghaelach a chur sibh romham.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to thank you, Fr. Jenkins, and the members of the Ireland Council for the truly “Irish” welcome you have extended to me this afternoon. I came as an Irish visitor but leave as a Notre Dame Amum - a painless transformation that links me very firmly to an institution with a very Irish heart.
I am particularly glad to have this opportunity to meet some of the people who sustain, freshen and develop the links between Ireland and this great seat of learning. It seems very appropriate to meet here in the Hesburgh Library with its wonderful collections of Irish-related materials and, of course, this spectacular view. It’s a vista which is an invitation to embrace creation, to get to know it through education, to get to know the self, to bring the gift of the person out into the world, and in particular the gifts honed in the spirit of Notre Dame.
At the Commencement ceremony, I tried to put Ireland’s links with Notre Dame in context: the context of an extraordinary history but also in the context of today’s opportunities. It is tremendously encouraging to know that here in Notre Dame, there are people who have a profound understanding of contemporary Ireland, who have a strong sense of those opportunities and a real will to realise the potential, especially for the students of Notre Dame.
Notre Dame had the good fortune, or should I say the good sense, to have gathered a group of exceptional individuals who form Notre Dame’s Ireland Council. Each of them brings a wealth of experience and tremendous goodwill to their role. The collective wisdom of the Council is an invaluable resource in terms of advice and practical support, for that broad range of activities touching on Ireland. We in Ireland owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. Their guidance and benevolence has been instrumental in helping Notre Dame to make its historical ties with Ireland into a powerful force for learning and development.
A watershed for Notre Dame’s relations with Ireland was the establishment of the Keough Institute for Irish Studies. Under the leadership of Father Malloy and with the vision and generosity of Don and Marilyn Keough, Notre Dame committed itself to a new approach to Ireland and cemented this fresh momentum by appointing Seamus Deane as Professor of Irish Studies. I need hardly tell anyone here of the contribution which Professor Deane has made to Irish literature and learning.
The Keough Institute continues to attract some of the finest Irish scholars in many fields because Notre Dame has always understood that Irish Studies requires an interdisciplinary approach. The faculty is supplemented by outstanding visiting professors, including the Naughton Fellows who come here through the generosity of Martin and Carmel Naughton, on a reciprocal arrangement with my alma mater, Trinity College, and with University College Dublin.
One dimension of Irish studies which Seamus Deane pioneered is the importance of the Irish language to an understanding of Ireland and its history. But even Seamus Deane could hardly have imagined that the Irish language would become the second most popular foreign language for Notre Dame undergraduates. Here again, Notre Dame has combined vision with ambition by creating the first endowed Chair of Irish Language and Literature for over a century in the United States. Notre Dame would not settle for anything less than a great scholar to fill this Chair and they found one of the greatest in Professor Breandan O Buachalla. Nár laga Dia do lámh, a Bhreandáin. May the Lord never weaken your hand, Breandan.
Notre Dame now has a Department of Irish Language and Literature with faculty of the highest calibre. I want to thank especially Tom and Kathleen O’Donnell for their support of this project. If Martin and I have the good fortune to return to South Bend for a home game, I hear the O’Donnells have the best tailgate party!
Irish Studies has gone from strength to strength in the United States and in many corners of the world. Earlier this week, in both the University of Montana and in Regis University in Colorado, I visited their Irish studies programmes. Irish Studies programmes in the United States are responding to a profound desire for understanding which cannot be satisfied by traditional approaches. It is a desire for understanding of the Irish identity, that complex inheritance whose influence has spread across the world. The desire is not limited to those with Irish heritage. It is often sparked by the appeal of a particular artist or historical figure but, whatever the spark, the flame spreads.
Of course, Irish studies brings certain other rewards. I spoke during the Commencement about Daniel O'Connell House, which is now home to the Keough Institute's Dublin Programme. Through that programme, Notre Dame students have a wonderful opportunity to study in the heart of Dublin. I am told the Dublin programme is consistently oversubscribed. Perhaps I should not overstate the attractions of Dublin for your students, Father Jenkins: suffice to say: that their energies are more than sufficient for their tasks!
I am convinced that Ireland’s relationship with this great country has been greatly enhanced by the work of scholars and educators in the field of Irish studies. Nowhere has made a greater contribution than the University of Notre Dame. Under your leadership, Father Jenkins, and with the advice and guidance of the Ireland Council, Notre Dame and Ireland will continue to grow together in understanding and friendship, the one shaping, influencing and inspiring the other for generations to come, in a generous vindication of generations gone.
Go mba fada buan sibh go léir anseo.