REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE STATE DINNER, HOSTED BY PRESIDENT PAPADOPOULOS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE STATE DINNER, HOSTED BY PRESIDENT PAPADOPOULOS, PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, NICOSIA, CYPRUS
AGAPITE PROEDRE PAPADOPOULE, AGAPITI IPOURGI, PRESVEFTES, EKLEKTI PROSKEKLIMENI, KYRIES KE KYRII.
President Papadopoulos, Ministers, Ambassadors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I am fortunate indeed to make the first State visit by an Irish Head of State to this legendary and exquisite island. I had a preview of its beauty and its hospitality some months ago on a private visit to Paphos and I have been eagerly awaiting this chance to see more.
Mr President, I have been honoured to welcome you to Ireland on two occasions – the first being the historic date of 1 May, 2004 when ten new member States including Cyprus became EU members. More recently in November of last year, it was a particular pleasure to welcome you back on the occasion of the exhibition in our National Museum of some of the magnificent archaeological wealth of your country. On that occasion, Mr President, you visited Ireland’s famous megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange, six hundred years older than Egypt’s Giza Pyramids. Both our islands are unique repositories of the secrets and stories of Europe’s distant past. In more recent generations our islands have experienced conflict and partition and out of those tragic events has come both a natural empathy with one another and an opportunity to get to know one another better.
Over the past forty years, almost ten thousand Irish Defence Force personnel have served here under the auspices of the United Nations. They were proud to do so and they made us proud in the distinction with which they served. The tradition continues to this day with 18 members of An Garda Siochána, our national police force, stationed here. I met with Superintendent Noel Galwey and his team yesterday. Their commitment and dedication as well as their genuine fondness for Cyprus is evident in all they do and I have heard huge and deserved praise of their work since I arrived here.
If our troops are thankfully no longer needed in large numbers, we do send you large numbers of other Irish. They come as tourists, or more recently as football supporters and their numbers are increasing with every passing year. So the links between us are growing exponentially in this generation and now, of course, they are cemented in a very focussed way by our common membership of the European Union. As two small island nations on the fringes of Europe with so much in common, we have great scope for learning from one another.
Ireland has 30 years of experience of Union membership and we are happy to share that experience with those who are new to the Union. We were pleased that Cyprus chose the Irish euro model as the example to follow and I hope this cooperation in EU matters will continue in the years to come. We have also been cooperating to good effect in the field of development aid. In January of this year, our Minister of State, Conor Lenihan, met with a Cypriot delegation in Dublin to discuss development cooperation as a result of which, Cyprus and Ireland agreed to cooperate in a schools project in Lesotho. Having recently visited Lesotho, I can assure you that your generous investment in education will be absolutely crucial to securing a future for its children.
In recent months many nations have had cause to be grateful for the spontaneous kindness of the Cypriot people. This island found itself suddenly, and without warning, on the front line of the refugee evacuation from Lebanon. Ireland was among the nations which benefited from extraordinary Cypriot assistance in getting their nationals home safe and well. For that, I would like to extend grateful thanks on behalf of the Irish people.
Once Ireland was a poor land from which our people emigrated. Today we have an economic success story to tell, with virtually full employment and excellent growth rates. Now many of our emigrants return home and emigrants come to us from other countries, among them some Cypriots who have chosen to make their lives or part of their lives in Ireland. I had the pleasure last June of visiting the Cypriot Embassy in Dublin and meeting and welcoming many of them in the company of Ambassador Kakouris. We are sad that he is soon to leave us but wish him and his family well in his new posting. He leaves behind a small but vibrant Irish Cypriot community, whose members are all excellent unofficial ambassadors for Cyprus.
Mr President, I know you are interested in Northern Ireland’s peace process which has been consolidating and bringing both hope and prosperity in recent years. Old conflicts are not easy to heal as you know well but the Irish and British governments are working closely together to ensure the success of the political process and we are encouraged by the heart the public has for peace and for partnership.
Ireland, in a national capacity and as EU Presidency at the time, was disappointed that the desired accession of a united Cyprus to the Union on 1 May 2004 did not prove possible. The legacy of conflict and division is difficult to overcome and requires great patience, dedication and political will on all sides. We know that dialogue is essential and that the role of the United Nations remains central to the process of conflict resolution.
For those reasons, we particularly welcome the 8th of July Agreement. We hope that the two technical committees envisaged under this Agreement will work productively and create a climate in which it is possible to return to fundamental questions. Ireland would encourage a renewed commitment on all sides to the negotiating process and to the achievement of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation through an honourable, balanced, and durable settlement, protecting and guaranteeing the basic interests and aspirations of all the people of the island.
I know, Mr President, that your own efforts are tireless in the search for a settlement. The Irish people wish you well and, like you, long for the day of full reconciliation and harmony on the island of Cyprus.
I will now ask you to join with me in a toast - to the continued health of His Excellency, Tassos Papadopoulos and of the people of the Republic of Cyprus.
Efpharesto.
Thank you.