Speech by President Connolly at Irish Community Reception
Embassy of Ireland, London, 18 May 2026
A Ambasadóir agus Bean Fraser, a Chairde Uaisle, tá mé thar a bheith sásta a bheith anseo i bhur gcomhluadar mar Uachtarán na hÉireann ar mo chéad chuairt oifigiúil ar an mBreatain Mhór. Ba mhaith liom buíochas ó chroí a ghabháil leis an Ambasadóir Fraser agus a fhoireann ar fad, ar mo shon féin agus Brian, as ucht fáiltiú an tráthnóna agus na socraithe agus ullmhúcháin ar fad a rinne sibh do mo chuairt go Londain agus Leeds.
Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil daoine ó phobail na nÉireannach bailithe anseo tráthnóna ní díreach ó cheantar Londain ach ó Lár Tíre, Deisceart Shasana agus ón mBreatain Bheag. Tá míle fáilte romhaibh ar fad.
Ambassador and Mrs Fraser, a chairde uaisle, I am absolutely delighted to be here and to have the privilege of being with you as the tenth President of Ireland on my first official visit to Great Britain. On behalf of Brian and myself may I thank Ambassador Fraser and his team for the hospitality this evening and for the arrangements made for my visit to London and Leeds.
Our two countries are inextricably linked on so many levels. Britain is our nearest neighbour and we share the same seas. For many in both of our countries there is an interwoven personal and family history. Tá ár bpobail fite fuaite i saol a chéile leis na cianta. Tá nasc comharsanachta eadrainn cosúil le nasc clainne agus cosúil le haon chlann tá difríochtaí eadrainn freisin.
For centuries, our history was one of coloniser and colonised with all of the complexity that brings. We recently concluded the decade of centenaries, commemorating our revolutionary period at the end of which Ireland became an independent sovereign state, and took her place as an equal amongst equals in the world.
The decolonisation of Ireland, however, was not only about land and law. It was also about the decolonisation of our minds. That process in itself was challenging, but has, over time, allowed us to take confidence and pride in our culture, our language and our identity.
This process of reclaiming our identity could not happen without the contribution of the Irish in Britain. You did that in so many ways. For example, remittances, amounting to an estimated £4.8 billion in the period from 1940 to 1970, were invaluable. They contributed to the education of children, saved farms, helped keep communities alive and indeed are still very important. It is something we can never forget. Often when they sent back that money they had very little themselves, but they believed in something greater than themselves, something bigger, and education was an integral part of that.
Moreover, at a time when our music and culture was undervalued at home, our community kept it alive in pubs, clubs and in their homes, and did so after long and exhausting days at work.
Cuireann ár dteanga dúchais an baile i gcuimhne dúinn. Corraíonn ár dteanga mothúcháin ionainn nach féidir a mhíniú, is nasc í lenár dtír dúchais, lenár stair, lenár sinsir. Is cúis áthais agus bróid dom, mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, an borradh atá faoin spéis agus suim sa Ghaeilge i measc ár bpobal anseo sa Bhreatain. Creidim gur cíocras chun ceangal a dhéanamh lena n-oidhreacht agus chun tuiscint níos doimhne a bhaint amach ar an muintir arbh as dóibh atá á spreagadh.
Ireland’s Diaspora Strategy 2026-2030, the third of its kind, is the Government’s formal response to these contributions of our diaspora. It is an acknowledgment of the value of our diaspora and what we owe you, and that has taken some time. Indeed the first significant step was taken in the 1980s with the establishment of the Díon committee which oversaw the funding of Irish welfare centres, mostly led at the time by the Irish Chaplaincy, and supported by the Irish Government. Then in 2002 the Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants published its report ‘Ireland and the Irish Abroad’ which obliged our country to confront the reality of the lives of our diaspora. From that came the Emigrant Support Programme, established in 2004, which has since assisted more than 900 organisations in 53 countries, with grants totalling over €265 million. It is really a very important source of funding. In the UK alone, it funds community care projects, lunch clubs, cultural programmes, and welfare services for those in need. Tréaslaím libhse atá bainteach leis an gClár Tacaíochta seo, go leor agaibh ag saothrú go deonach ar son sliocht bhur muintire.
Of the global diaspora, the Irish in Britain represent one of the most significant Irish communities abroad. This community, both Irish-born and of Irish descent, encompasses all ages, is represented in every walk of life, and has made a distinctive and creative contribution to every aspect of British society.
Women’s contributions deserve particular acknowledgement. It is often forgotten that, with the exception of two short periods in the 1960s and 1980s, women have always outnumbered men in Ireland’s emigration statistics to Britain, often obliged to leave a country that defined morality in self-serving, patriarchal terms and provided little space for dissent or independent thought. Many of these same women became nurses and doctors, amongst many other roles that women took up, and formed the backbone of the nursing profession of the NHS.
Indeed, for many, Britain was a place of escape where people could live with greater personal freedom and truth. For others, it was a place where they faced many challenges and significant discrimination.
The Irish community here is a living entity that changes over time. The strength and vibrancy of our community is not just measured by census numbers. It is measured through our contributions to both British and Irish life and through our compassion for others.
Of course, we cannot speak about the Irish in Britain without speaking of the Troubles, about what that period meant for people here. Most of you and your families lived the consequences of the horrific bombings. To be Irish in Britain in those years was to carry a weight that was not yours to carry. People lost jobs. People were accused in the wrong. Innocent people were convicted in the wrong and were imprisoned for years. One of the critical elements of the peace process was that a number of miscarriages of justice were ultimately addressed.
The Good Friday Agreement of course was the culmination of that peace process, and the start of the peace process for the future, profoundly changing the landscape. It is one of the most significant political achievements of our lifetime. A negotiated settlement that said – this violence is not inevitable, that division is not permanent, these identities can coexist. It requires courage and determination from everyone involved and it requires the two governments to act in good faith.
Of course, it is not a historical document. It is a living breathing framework, and when it comes under pressure, as Brexit placed it under pressure, Ireland defended it. Not because it is politically convenient, but because the alternative is simply unthinkable.
Brexit was not easy for many of you. The certainty of your belonging here was suddenly less certain. Ireland worked throughout that process to protect your interests and your rights and will continue to do so.
Over the past two years, our governments have worked with determination to achieve a genuine reset in our bilateral relations. That engagement has ensured that dialogue, partnership and close cooperation once again define the Ireland-UK relationship, and that the people-to-people connections we have built continue to shape and guide our decisions and our shared future. This renewed spirit of cooperation is reflected in the annual Summits that are now taking place at Taoiseach to Prime Minister level, the second one held in Cork earlier this year, and the extensive and regular visits between our countries.
It is in this spirit that I had the absolute privilege and pleasure of meeting with King Charles earlier today and I have to say the warm welcome was very much appreciated by myself on behalf of the Irish people, our first such meeting as Heads of State. In our discussion, we were mindful of our unique relationship as close neighbours and our absolutely intertwined history. We reflected on the memorable State Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland 15 years ago, as well as the State Visit here, in 2014, by my predecessor, former President Michael D. Higgins. I was very pleased to extend an invitation to King Charles to pay his first State Visit to Ireland next year, which he graciously and gratefully received. I have no doubt that he will receive the warmest of welcomes and this will represent a further deepening of our relationship as neighbours and as friends.
Of course, Ireland brings to all of our relationships and all our friendships the values we hold dear, given our history. As a neutral, independent, sovereign country, Ireland champions those values by defending international law and the structures of the United Nations, as enshrined in the UN Charter. We can be very proud that Ireland has upheld these values since we joined the UN in 1955. I am especially proud of our peacekeepers who continue to demonstrate such courage and commitment, no matter where they serve and particularly in the Lebanon at the current time.
That is why Ireland speaks out in the face of injustice. That is why we will not be silent when international law is treated as optional by those with the power to simply ignore it when they choose. We know what happens when the powerful are unconstrained. Our shared experience is our very strength. It is what connects us, across the water and across the generations. It is the ground we stand on together as we continue to build, side by side, a more just and equal world.
It is apt that we are meeting here tonight in the Embassy, and I know Ambassador Fraser will agree, that throughout the decades, the greatest ambassadors of our country in Britain have been you, the members of the Irish community. It is an honour and privilege to be here with you, to have the opportunity to meet with you, to listen to you, and to thank you on behalf of our country.
Tá mé ag tnúth go mór le casadh libh tráthnóna agus ag súil freisin le go leor cuairteanna eile sna blianta amach romhainn.
A chairde, I look forward, on this visit and in the years ahead, to building the next chapter of our relationship together, as neighbours, as friends and as family. But also to use our voices in our volatile world to say normalising war is never acceptable, normalising slaughter is never acceptable, and we have to use our voices to reclaim our language, not just in the sense of reclaiming our Irish language and our culture, but reclaiming our language so that language has meaning and that we can tell young people we mean what we say,
Go maire an ceangal eadrainn.
Gur i dtreise a bheidh cairdeas agus caidreamh ár náisiún ag dul.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh