Reception in honour of the President and Sabina Higgins
Embassy of Ireland, London, 22nd February 2012
A dhaoine uaisle, a chairde, tá áthas orm bheith i bhur measc tráthnóna.
Sabina and I are delighted to be in London on my first overseas visit as President and to be with you at the Embassy this evening. I would like to thank our Ambassador, Bobby McDonagh and his wife Mary for their generous hospitality and all their assistance and that of the staff of the Embassy before and during this visit.
We are delighted to be in London just nine months after the wonderfully historic and successful state visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to Ireland.
Her Majesty’s visit both symbolised and confirmed that one of the longest conflicts and source of difference between two countries has become one of the great friendships of today. Moreover I believe that the impact of the visit extended well beyond these islands as its message of reconciliation and hope for other places which are experiencing conflict rippled across the world. It is, in its way, a powerful vindication of the power of diplomacy in substituting recognition of the opportunities given by a democratic consensus over conflict as a shared future beckons with all its human possibilities.
In the course of our visit this week, Sabina and I have had the opportunity to meet with many parts of the Irish community in Britain. In my inaugural address, as Uachtarán na hÉireann, President of Ireland, I said that we Irish are a creative, resourceful, talented and warm people with limitless possibilities, feidireachtá gan teorann. I have been greatly encouraged, although in no way surprised, by the evidence and abundance of creativity, resourcefulness, talent and warmth which
I have encountered since I arrived in London yesterday morning.
I have been a regular visitor over many years to the various Irish Centres in Britain. They have provided support and solidarity of a welfare kind, of a cultural kind and of a recreational kind for many, many years and for many, many people. It has been a great pleasure during this visit to meet again, as President, with representatives of so many of those Centres and to find that their continuing pride in Irish identity, their lasting affection for Ireland and their commitment to those in our community who need our support is as strong as ever. We are all indebted to those in our community in Britain who continue to give freely of their time, talents and energy in order to provide support to those in need, to ensure that our rich culture is maintained including for a new generation, and that there continue to be centres up and down the country where Irishness is celebrated. I am also very pleased that the Irish Government supports these centres in their work for that part of the extended Irish family who sustain their Irishness outside our shores.
This evening I am delighted to welcome representatives of the Irish business community in Britain which also does so much important work on behalf of Ireland; as well as representatives of the Irish who are prominent in the cultural world here and who - through the quality and creativity of your work - do so much to promote Ireland’s image and reputation.
On becoming President, I spoke of the challenges we face in closing a chapter in Ireland that has left us fragile as an economy and wounded as a society. At the same time I recognized the will of all our people to move beyond anger, frustration or cynicism and to draw on our shared strengths which are many.
I would like this evening to say something about two of those strengths, namely the exceptionally warm relationship which now exists with our nearest neighbour, and the crucial support of our diaspora.
The recent years of economic turmoil have highlighted the deep inter-dependence between economies. This is particularly true for a country like Ireland, with a relatively small and open economy highly dependent on trade and investment.
Against this background, our economic relationship with Britain is a particularly important one. The modern confident relationship between our two countries has provided a context in which increasingly each of us recognises the mutual importance of the relationship, all the more important as both countries have faced the challenge of economic downturn.
Britain is Ireland’s most important trade partner. Irish businesses, including small companies seeking to expand their markets, have begun afresh to appreciate the potential of the British market and to exploit our natural advantages in doing business here.
But likewise Britain increasingly recognises the importance of Ireland as a trading partner. Britain, for example, exports more than twice as much food to Ireland than it does to any other destination; and it is the British Government which has repeatedly pointed out that overall, remarkably, Britain exports more to Ireland than it does to China, India, Russia and Brazil combined. Britain’s direct participation in Ireland’s financial assistance package further illustrates both the friendship between our countries and the shared recognition of the importance of the relationship.
The economic relationship between Ireland and Britain is broad and deep. It includes the flow of trade, investment and tourists; the extensive transport, energy and other links; and of course our shared membership of the European single
market .
€1 billion of trade in goods and services flows across the Irish Sea each week. Our firms are major investors in each other’s economies. Many multinational businesses see Britain and Ireland as a single market.
Britain is Ireland’s largest export destination for indigenous companies, especially in the food sector. It is our largest market for overseas tourists and it remains an important market for foreign investment.
In strategic terms Britain remains the ‘market of first resort’ for indigenous Irish firms seeking to enter in the export market.
This morning I visited the Olympic Park site which is yet another practical example of how Irish and British business can work in partnership with mutual benefit in areas as diverse as construction and Information Technology.
Of course the business relationship, like other dimensions of the relationship, is about people. I am delighted to see many key Irish business people here this evening.
One figure which encapsulates the degree to which our economies are interwoven is the estimate that there are 40,000 Irish directors on the Boards of British companies – more than twice the number of any other country.
No other country has the same degree of integration with Britain in terms of people, language and business culture.
Britain has for many centuries provided opportunities for Irish talent, skill and hard work. The modern Irish business community in Britain represents the most recent phase of a long-tradition of Irish people settling in and contributing to Britain: from farm labourers and canal builders in the 18th century, to the railway labourers in the 19th century, to the construction workers of the 20th century, to those today who work across many cutting-edge professions in 21st century Britain.
Although I understand that Prince Charles, here at the Embassy fifteen months ago, spoke generously and warmly of the Irish contribution in Britain, I am not certain that the full story the contribution that Irish people have made to modern Britain has yet been fully evaluated or told.
As President, I have invited all the Irish, wherever they may be across the world, to become involved with us in the task of recasting and building our economy and society. I am delighted that so many of the talented Irish men and women working in key sectors of the British economy are using this talent to that end.
The British chapter of Global Irish Network embraces successful Irish people across many sectors, from food to financial services, from construction to the arts.
Moreover, I understand that there are as many as 20 other Irish business-related networks in Britain – some with more than 1000 members: networks involving people in construction, architecture, law, engineering, accountancy, financial services, science, media and business. I would like to offer a warm welcome to the representatives of these networks here this evening including graduates, young professionals and entrepreneurs.
It is a particular pleasure for me to welcome guests this evening also from the cultural world. The contribution which you have made and are making in support of Ireland’s image and reputation – whether on the stage or the TV screen, the catwalk or the playing field - is an invaluable one.
This month saw the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. In Hard Times, Dickens decries a world view which values only facts. “Facts alone are wanted in life”, says Mr Gradgrind. “Plant nothing else and root out everything else”. Culture is the response to Mr Gradgrind’s shallow view of education and the world.
Those of you who excel in creativity and the arts, those of you who use your own imagination to stimulate the imagination of others, help us to understand our Irishness, the relationship between these islands and what it is to be human, to be a sensitive citizen of our sacred fragile planet.
Culture has a deep value in itself as an expression of what is Irish and European but above all human but it also plays a crucial role in our confidence as a people and in promoting Ireland abroad and it provides a platform for the expression of some of our best skills on a global stage.
I would also like to pay tribute to the many Irish people who work in the education sector here, a group of which I’m delighted to note there are several representatives here this evening. Universities have played a crucial role, across many disciplines, in developing better mutual understanding between Britain and Ireland. I was delighted to have the opportunity of addressing the London School of Economics yesterday evening.
At lunchtime today I met with some of the significant Irish contributors to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the largest celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. The Cultural Olympiad has involved more than 16 million people across the UK taking part in or attending cultural performances and will culminate in the London 2012 Festival providing over 10 million opportunities to see free world-class events throughout the UK.
I’m delighted that Ireland is making such an important contribution to the Cultural Olympiad. It’s a pity for Ireland that music and literature are not Olympic sports!
I spoke at the outset of the closeness of the relationship which now exists between Britain and Ireland. One significant dimension of that relationship is the parliamentary level. I would like to welcome this evening some British parliamentarians, representatives of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Irish in Britain which does much important work in support of Irish causes in Britain; and in particular I would like to welcome and thank those behind the thoughtful Early-Day Motion congratulating me on my election which I appreciated very much.
A Chairde,
There are so many exciting areas, such as the creative industries, research and education, in which Ireland can continue to excel and in which we can work closely with Britain to our mutual advantage.
I’m sure we have the creativity and adaptability in Ireland to respond to the current global and domestic conditions. I am confident that Ireland will return to long-term growth and rising standards of living.
Working with our most important economic neighbours, and drawing on the strengths and abilities of our diaspora, will be essential in achieving that aim.
I would like to thank you all for being here this evening, for your ongoing commitment to Ireland, and for your support in building the better future for Ireland that we all know is possible.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.