REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE IRISH FEST MILWAUKEE, SATURDAY, 20TH AUGUST, 2005
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE IRISH FEST MILWAUKEE, SATURDAY, 20TH AUGUST, 2005
Dia dhíbh a chairde go léir. Tá an-áthas orm agus m’fhear chéile Mairtín bheith libh i Milwaukee ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte sin.
Thank you all for that warm Irish Fest Fáilte. I have been looking forward to attending for as many years as there has been a Milwaukee Irish Fest and now at last we are here to join the big 25th anniversary celebrations.
We have seen some spectacular sights already - a hurling match on the shores of Lake Michigan between Galway and an impressive looking Milwaukee team being just one. And of course the captivating performance of the Trinity Dancers; all the activities at the children’s area; the terrific displays at the Irish Destinations and this is just a taster of what Irish Fest has to offer.
Irish Fest is known at home in Ireland as one of the biggest and most popular celebrations of Irish culture anywhere in the world. Thousands of Irish musicians, language enthusiasts, artists and craftsmen have passed through these gates in the last 25 years. In and through their lives and their experience of Irish Fest the global Irish family has grown closer and stronger, as has our shared culture. Its well has deepened here and in recognition of its special, its unique contribution to Irish culture, the Government of Ireland has supported Irish Fest for a number of years now. I am delighted to be joined here today by our Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, who is attending the Fest for his fourth time.
We are privileged to share with you this very special experience, with its vitality and variety and its huge passion for Irish culture. This is a unique showcase of talent and I congratulate all those whose talents displayed here make us proud to be Irish.
Comhghairdeas libh.
The success of Milwaukee Irish Fest is only possible because of the relentless commitment of many hard-working people. Very special credit is due to the legendary Ed Ward, Founder and President of Irish Fest and to Jane Anderson, Director of Irish Fest. You both head up a remarkable team and deserve huge credit on this landmark birthday.
The strength and vibrancy of the Irish community here in Milwaukee and throughout the Mid-West is at the heart of this successful Festival. That Irish identity has endured over many generations as has the web of clan and family which holds us Irishmen and women together no matter how far apart in time or territory.
The Ireland I left this week on the journey to Milwaukee is an Ireland so many emigrants wished and prayed for, prosperous, peaceful, strong and confident, at home in the United States, at home in Europe. We now look forward to the day when Northern Ireland will enjoy a stable and lasting peace with true justice and equality through the full flowering of the Good Friday Agreement and the widespread desire for peace which created the Peace Process.
The Irish Fest Youth Choir has close links with the Omagh Community Youth Choir who did such important work to support those who had suffered as a result of the terrible tragedy in Omagh seven years ago. Many of you will have heard the Omagh Choir here at Milwaukee Irish Fest (in 2003), and the two choirs have performed together in your nation’s capital. Here are new generations on different continents not just supporting and befriending each other, but dedicating themselves to a future built on respect for difference and for democratic dialogue.
We in Ireland very much appreciate the continuing encouragement of President Bush and his Administration, our friends on both sides of the aisle in Congress, and above all, in communities and cities like Milwaukee. Your friendship and enduring interest in Ireland’s welfare are sources of energy, hope, enthusiasm and imagination.
We have an extraordinarily deep relationship with the people of the United States. It is the legacy of millions of emigrants, it embraces many stories of heartache and courage, of heroism and achievement. But it does not rest on nostalgia alone but today flourishes in business investment in both directions, expanding mutual trade and tourism and in the cultural curiosity we have about one another so brilliantly ministered to here in Milwaukee. I hope many of you will be tempted by the displays in the Irish Destinations Area and the work of Tourism Ireland to check out the welcome that waits for you on the other side of the Atlantic.
On that far off island almost everyone is related to someone in the United States. Today, we thank God for the gift of being connected, of staying connected, the gift of community and of caring for one another and for the chance to cherish our shared kinship through music, dance, craic and camaraderie at the Milwaukee Irish Fest.
I am proud to be part of the 25th Irish Fest. I thank the Board for their kind invitation to share today with you and I wish you the very best of Irish luck for the next 25 years.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.