REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE IRISH AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP BREAKFAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE IRISH AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP BREAKFAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS THURSDAY, 28TH MAY 2009
It is a pleasure to be with you this morning. Thank you for your very warm welcome.
Let me begin this morning by saying a very sincere thank you – go raibh míle maith agaibh – to the Irish American Partnership for the many initiatives which you have supported and implemented in Ireland, North and South, over the past twenty years. My particular appreciation to your President, Joe Leary, to your Chairman John Murray and to Mary Sugrue McAleer for your leadership and for your commitment to the island of Ireland during these crucial years for our land. Simply put, you have really delivered for Ireland and I thank you on behalf of the many people who have benefited from your commitment, investment and forward thinking.
Your work in promoting economic development in Ireland by investing in education and job creation demonstrated tremendous vision on your part. You have also been to the fore supporting projects that promote reconciliation and greater mutual understanding in Northern Ireland, filling what the poet John Hewitt has called, ‘the centuries’ arrears’.
These key components of the mission of the IAP - education, jobs and cross-community actions - are as valid today as ever before. As I visit communities across the island of Ireland, I see this at first hand. I know how much it means to you, and I want you to know how much it means at home, not just in material terms, but as a real symbol of your connection with Ireland. For the young people benefiting from your initiatives, it is also a very practical example for them of how the generous and caring spirit of Americans like you can impact on this early stage of their lives.
As you are all aware, Ireland has been transformed in recent years, both politically and economically. There can be no doubting the critical role that the United States has played in that transformation through trade, investment and support for the Peace Process.
On each visit I make to the US, I am always struck by the deep sense of kinship our people enjoy. It is true that our two countries have always enjoyed strong political, cultural, economic and social relations but I believe there is something more. Perhaps it is an innate sense of trust, of shared values, of simply being comfortable with each other, being family to each other. However you define or characterise it, the close bonds between Ireland and America have rightly been cherished and strengthened by our people on both sides of the Atlantic for generations.
We never forget that the peace and prosperity now enjoyed on the island of Ireland would simply not have happened without the support of the United States and Irish America. American determination and belief is what might have kept the Northern Ireland peace process on track in some of the rockiest moments along that journey. And that support did not end with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. It is evident today as the U.S. continues to support the efforts of the people of Ireland to consolidate and build upon the peace we now enjoy.
The past two years have been hugely significant in terms of consolidating the peace process and realising the potential of the Agreement, with the restoration of a power sharing Executive and a strong programme of practical all-island collaboration and cooperation. I am pleased to be able to tell you that we are entering a new phase of reconciliation and partnership on the island between both communities in Northern Ireland and between North and South.
The people of Northern Ireland have come through a violent and lengthy conflict and now live in a society intent on building a peaceful future. They have overwhelmingly rejected violence. In the wave of anger and grief that greeted the murders of two British soldiers and a policeman in Northern Ireland in March, one thing shone like a beacon of hope and it was the unity of response from all sides of the community, first given voice by Catholic and Protestant clergymen standing side by side and from the elected leaders of all political persuasions who also stood shoulder to shoulder, leaders of divided communities that are now united in their shared will for peace. The new dispensation was tested and it came through that test strongly and, 11 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the Process appears more robust and durable than ever. In a world that has seen such turbulence in so many spheres this past while, that is a remarkable story in itself and one in which America can rightly take pride in for its part. There are no grounds for complacency, of course, and much remains to be done. But on the basis of what has been achieved already we can be truly hopeful for the future.
America has always been our welcoming neighbour, always responsive in times of economic or other difficulty. Today, we find ourselves in the situation where our citizens are all grappling with the same kinds of social and economic challenges. Families on both sides of the Atlantic are concerned about unemployment, redundancies, declining property values, worried about what the future might hold for their children. What is clear, in this time of global uncertainty, is that in facing this test of our generation, we are much stronger when we work together to overcome them and so much weaker when we work alone.
There has been much comment of late about the global economy and our own difficulties in Ireland have been the subject of particular focus in some quarters. In analysing our current problems, it is important, however, to factor in the underlying strengths in terms of people and policies which helped Ireland attain real success over the past 15 years and which still remain intact today. These are the very tools that will serve us well as we take advantage of the global economic upturn when it comes, as it surely will.
We have also taken important first steps at Government level by ensuring continued investment in our infrastructure and in research & development. That allows us continue to invest in one of the youngest and best-educated populations in Europe, creative and innovative. We have also taken measures to support our banking system and, with a focus on being competitive, we are cutting the cost of doing business in Ireland.
And let us not lose sight of the hugely positive figures that still define the landscape of the Ireland-US relationship. Today, we are fortunate to have more than 450 American companies operating in Ireland, employing more than 90,000 people. What is not as well known is that Irish companies operating in America now employ over 80,000 people here. So there is much room for optimism. Resilience is in the DNA of our people, here in America and at home. Generations before us have squared up to challenges of their time and I know that, working and pulling together, we will do the same in ours.
Close to this place, in Copley Square, there is an inscription bearing the words of the poet Kahlil Gibran, “It was in my heart to help a little, because I was helped much”. This is a fitting reminder of the spirit of friends of Ireland, such as you. I know that we can count on the Irish American Partnership continuing to play its part in keeping this vital and dynamic relationship thriving.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir. Thank You.