REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION FOR THE IRISH COMMUNITY, BUDAPEST
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION FOR THE IRISH COMMUNITY, BUDAPEST, MONDAY, 23RD OCTOBER, 2006
Dia dhíbh a chairde Gael. Tá an-áthas orainn bheith i bhur measc ar an ócáid stairiúil seo. Míle bhuíochas as an bhfáilte sin.
Nagyon örulök, hogy itt lehetek Budapesten. I'm delighted to be here in Budapest.
It’s good to be back in Budapest and to have again the opportunity to meet and spend some time with members of the Irish Community and friends of Ireland here at the Irish Embassy Residence in the company of Ambassador and Jill Greene.
Together with Martin, I thank the Ambassador and Jill and Embassy Staff very sincerely for the effort they have put into making our short but memorable visit to Budapest so enjoyable.
As our Ambassador and Jill have just begun their posting, I take this opportunity to wish them every success and happiness here in Budapest. With a Presidential visit to organise within just two months of their arrival, I suspect that their first weeks in Budapest have been a baptism of fire!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As most of you know, I came to Budapest yesterday afternoon, on the invitation of both the President and the Prime Minister of Hungary, to represent Ireland at the 50th anniversary commemorations of the 1956 Revolution. The commemorative events organized by the Hungarian Government, including the splendid ceremonial outside parliament this morning, have been a memorable and a fitting memorial to those tragic events of 50 years ago - a moving tribute to the memory of those courageous men and women who were brutally sacrificed in the course of the revolution or in the terrible reprisals that followed.
I felt honoured as President of Ireland to participate in this time of commemoration and in particular to be able to meet and listen to survivors of the revolution - among them the remarkable former President of Hungary, Árpád Göncz, who was my host when I made a State Visit to Hungary in 2000. Each survivor has such a profound insight into the events of 1956 in which they played a part and in the retelling, we come to a fresh understanding of those awful times and a renewed respect for the courage and tenacity of the Hungarian people as they struggled, against impossible odds, to restore to their country its sovereignty and their freedom.
But though the revolution was, of course, crushed by foreign military might, the fire of Hungary’s self-belief was never extinguished and we are a privileged generation to have lived to see not just the political transformation of 1989/1990 but Hungary’s accession to the European Union and its return to the European family table. It was a special privilege for Dublin and for Áras an Uachtaráin to host that memorable say of welcomes on May 1st 2004 when the future of Ireland and Hungary moved into a new gear as partners in Europe.
Because you live and work here, you have such an important role to play in how this new Hungary develops and how these new opportunities are harvested to the benefit of both Hungary and Ireland. After the long gap in the relationship between our two countries, we have much ground to make up. All the conditions now exist for the flowering of ties between our countries, not only in the very important areas of trade and investment, but in culture, education, research and development, tourism and in all the easy people-to-people exchanges that membership of the Union and freedom facilitate.
Just two weeks ago, I met with members of the Hungarian community in Ireland, at the Hungarian Embassy. Some have been in Ireland since before 1956, some came as refugees but most have come since 2004. They are young, curious, hope-filled, talented and hardworking. Their enthusiasm is helping Ireland to grow and it will also help their beloved homeland to blossom. They are Hungary’s ambassadors in Ireland and you are our ambassadors in Hungary. You are the bridges by which we get to know one another and become friends, colleagues and partners. Without you the ambition for a shared future stays an ambition. With you it becomes an achievement. Good luck in all you do and thank you so much for coming to meet Martin and me, and for the fáilte extended to us. It may have been a short visit but we take back a store of fond memories, not least of this afternoon.
I wish you good health, success and every happiness in your future lives in this country.
Köszönöm szépen. Thank you very much.
Gurb fada buan sibh ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh.