Remarks by President McAleese on the occasion of a Lunch hosted by Ballymena Chamber of Commerce
Ballymena, Thursday, 6th October, 2011
Thank you all for that warm and generous welcome.
I am delighted to join you here today for lunch. It is good to be among some familiar faces and to get the chance to make some new acquaintances. My thanks to Ray Bonar for his very kind invitation to visit the Ballymena Chamber of Commerce and congratulations to each one of you for the many ways in which you have given leadership to the business and civil life of Ballymena.
The past, for Ballymena like so many parts of Northern Ireland was a troubled and troubling place. But this is now a time of transformation, a time when we have seen the North’s citizens come out from under the clouds caused by division into the light of good neighbourliness and partnership. Peace and political stability have taken hold and they have radically altered the present and the future.
Through all the capriciousness of the Troubles you had to give leadership and bring hope so that today’s thriving and energetic town is a credit to your hard work, determination and innovation. You did the work because you care deeply about this place, its people, its prospects and its potential. You took your individual strengths and pooled them through this Chamber so that together you would be a forceful centre of advocacy for Ballymena as a dynamic business and commercial centre and a regional hub.
You fostered a balance between local, family run businesses and those driven by investment from outside. Through the voluntary partnership between private businesses and the local Authority - the Business Improvement District - you invested in the strengths and the character of the town so that its very uniqueness would enhance its credentials as a modern city.
Among the dreadfully wasteful vanities of our messed up history is a statistic I inherited on becoming President- that the land border within the EU with the lease commerce across was the land border on this island. I do not need to tell business people how regrettable that fact was but looked at from a different perspective and in a new context of peace we can see it as indicating work to be done and benefits to be gained. Henry Ford’s words are so true for all of us in this moment, especially those called to exercise leadership ‘Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, Working together is Success.’ In the current difficult economic climate it makes real sense to transform North/South economic collaboration into the momentum that will encourage prosperous sustainable economies for future generations on both sides of the border.
The two administrations are working together, as never before to ensure greater economic co-operation with the shared goals of economic recovery and the creation of jobs, North and South. Already that cooperation has produced and is producing real dividends and as we are only at the start we can be sure there is even better to come.
But this is work that is not generated by computers. It is the work of human beings, shaking hands, building relationships, establishing trust, exploring possible synergies and so I thank you for committing to that work and encourage you to persevere with building the structures and the relationships that are needed to underpin both the peace and prosperity. I hope that a generation is coming that will know only both and will know to whom it owes thanks for the great Godsend that is peace on your streets and a decent job to go to.
Thank you all again for that lovely welcome and may I wish you every success as you continue with your important work.