Remarks by President McAleese at the 50th Anniversary of Alliance Française in Dublin
Remarks by President McAleese at the 50th Anniversary of Alliance Française in Dublin Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Mesdames, messieurs, je suis ravie d’etre parmi vous ce soir pour fêter le cinquantième anniversaire de l’Alliance Française Dublin. My sincere thanks to Claire Bourgeois for the warm welcome and for inviting me to join you here this evening.
There is a web of history’s making that has long linked France and Ireland. Normans and Huguenots, the Wild Geese and Irish Brigades who served in France, the French soldiers who served with King James and fought against William of Orange, Humbert’s Army a century later, the battles fought on rugby and soccer pitches but today – occasional sporting rivalries excepted – Ireland and France are partners in the European Union, their futures strategically and formally entwined. We have different languages but shared perspectives and values. We have a common currency and strong economic and commercial links. We both have fascinating cultures which we like to showcase and we are also interested in deepening our awareness of each other’s culture and heritage.
Ireland’s largest cultural centre overseas is situated in the magnificent Collège des Irlandais in Paris, and it is the flagship for Irish culture not simply in France but in Europe. It attracts thousands of French visitors each year. Similarly, the Alliance Française showcases French language and culture here in Dublin and is the third largest such institute in Europe with over 5,000 students each year. This year it celebrates a venerable Golden Jubilee and on this special occasion, it can take considerable pride in the fact that, so lively is Irish interest in all things French, the French language is the most popular modern language choice in our secondary schools. This linguistic platform is an important intellectual resource for Ireland as well as an important and necessary conduit to developing even closer and more sophisticated relations between the Irish and French peoples. The Alliance plays a very important role in strengthening and developing that platform.
The healthy mutuality between Ireland and France is evident in the fact that even in these difficult economic times, visitor numbers between France and Ireland, in both directions, remain very strong volcanic activity notwithstanding. But in between visits there is the Alliance for that little bit of Ireland that is forever France.
Alliance Française’s beautiful building in the heart of Dublin is widely known and used and it is supported by a nationwide network with centres now operating in Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Wexford and Waterford. Over these fifty years many students have crossed your threshold and with your help they have become not merely proficient in the beautiful French language but they have grown to love its literature, art, cinema, cuisine which have in turn so greatly enriched Ireland’s vibrant cultural scene. As the Café des Amis implies, you have created many friends for France in Ireland and made of this magnificent building a place where Ireland and France have a strong living, breathing contemporary relationship that is constantly evolving and freshening. It’s a people-centred relationship. It builds lasting, genuine and life-enhancing links and I warmly thank the government of France for its strong commitment to Ireland. We can count the fifty year investment made in Ireland by the Alliance Française through the number of students and it would in itself be a significant story but the true dividends are not so easily quantifiable though they are tangible nonetheless. They are to be found in the delight encountered in getting to know not simply the words and structure of a new language but in being able to enter and deeply appreciate and enjoy the fullness of another culture especially one with as much as French culture has to offer. I congratulate the accomplishments of Alliance’s remarkable team led today by its hard-working Director, Ms. Claire Bourgeois and not forgetting her predecessors over the past half-century, all of whom share the credit for all that we celebrate. I also recognise with gratitude the key supportive role played by the Embassy of the French Republic in Ireland, under successive ambassadors and especially under the distinguished direction of Ambassador Roé d’Albert. It has been a busy month with the French Literary festival – chapeau – these anniversary celebrations and the start of the next fifty years of France in Ireland thanks to Alliance Française.
En conclusion, permettez-moi de vous souhaiter “Bonne Anniversaire!” Je vous passe par le meme les meilleurs voeux du peuple irlandais pour le demi-siecle à venir. Merci beaucoup.