SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY McALEESE AT THE IRELAND‑US COUNCIL FOR COMMERCE
SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY McALEESE AT THE IRELAND‑US COUNCIL FOR COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY LUNCH, NEW YORK
Mr. Roarty
Council Members
I dtosach báire ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil an-áthas orm bheith anseo libh inniu. Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin.
Thank you very much for your warm greeting and words of welcome.
It is a salutary experience to be in New York for the first St. Patrick’s Day celebration since that dreadful September day. There is a complex mood, of grief and gritty determination, of celebration and commemoration. Just as we turned to friends and loved ones for comfort and support on that harrowing day and in doing so discovered anew the power of human solidarity and goodness, so today we gather as friends and colleagues who believe that shared endeavour is the key to human progress, to peace and prosperity.
Over the past few days, my husband Martin and I together with Minister Kitt, have been deeply touched by both the visible wounds of this city and by its great heart. It has been a singular honour to be a part of the celebration and prayers of a people who have been so sorely tested but whose galvanized spirit of endurance and determination have inspired us to renewed faith and hope.
Ireland was heartbroken on that day and we shared the impenetrable depths of grief that enveloped this city. We too, like virtually every nation on earth, counted our sons and daughters among the dead and we also added up the price we all pay for membership of the world’s open and free, liberal democracies. Our vulnerability to the unrestrained forces of hatred was emphatically brought home to us.
And in the middle of all the grief at such wanton loss of life, as we tried to offer comfort to one another, we asked ourselves what kind of future we wanted for our children and we began a new and urgent debate with ourselves about how best to create that future. I am sure many people felt so dispirited that they gave in to despair even if only for a moment and who could blame them, but the most extraordinary characteristic to emerge from that cataclysmic day was and remains the courageous humanity of ordinary men and women who found in themselves a huge reservoir of heroism and resilience.
Thanks to them there is abundant evidence that this great country is moving steadily towards recovery. For some the human wounds, the loss and the loneliness, will never end but the truest vindication of all those lost lives will come from an America which is living life to the full again - not because it has put the memory of its dead behind it, but because it remembers them well and knows they gave their lives in order that this country would keep on being the successful, open society they were proud to sacrifice their lives for.
The world of business, where so many of you here today play a vitally important role, was particularly challenged after September 11th. A palpable unease rippled through the global economy and it took steady hands on the tillers of commerce and industry to reduce the threat of instability. Here too, we have seen the emergence of leaders and energizers whose determined action and intelligent reaction has ensured that even now, just six months after those horrific events, there are clear signs of a remarkable economic recovery. That is good news for the United States, good news for Ireland and good news for the rest of the world and we are grateful to those whose energies are making it happen.
The decade we have just come out of was a wonderfully exciting invigorating period of innovation. The opportunities offered by the new technologies created a confidence in the future, which was felt across all the world economies. The technological achievements of the nineties and the spread of globalisation transformed our society as radically as the Industrial Revolution had done more than two centuries ago.
Ireland too underwent many profound economic and social changes during those years. Many of you here are familiar with the fact that over the past decade Ireland has consistently achieved record rates of economic growth, averaging around 8% per year. It has been an exhilarating time for an economy that in the past faced many difficulties, where lack of employment opportunities and emigration sometimes appeared destined to keep us trapped.
Today, foreign investment, particularly from the United States, has transformed our economic landscape. Our unemployment rate has fallen to low levels never before experienced. International trade and direct investment flows have become ‑ quite literally ‑ the lifeblood of our economy. It is an indication of our trading strength that in the year 2000, Ireland registered the highest per capita merchandise exports of any country in the world and is, according to a recent study, by far the world’s most globalized economy. It is a story Ireland is proud of and we share that pride with our friends here because their faith is Ireland has helped seed-bed a new culture of achievement.
We are now entering a new period of robust economic growth, if at a somewhat more modest level. The underlying strength of the economy continues to prove itself. According to the Irish Economic and Social Research Institute, despite the current slowdown, the economy will still average an annual growth rate of 5% in the period 2000 to 2005. To put this into perspective, the IMF still expects the Irish economy to grow faster this year than the rest of the EU. Positive forecasts continue to predict that Ireland will remain one of the most attractive business locations in the world throughout the period 2001 to 2003.
One of the sources of our economic confidence is the new euro currency, which was successfully introduced on the 1st of January in Ireland and 11 other members of the European Union. Commercial life in Ireland did not miss a single beat. The seamless introduction of the euro was a powerful boost to business confidence, bringing as it did, the markets of most of our EU partners within easier reach and at the same time making Ireland a particularly attractive investment destination as the only English speaking country inside the eurozone.
Outside the European Union, the United States is our other pre‑eminent economic partner. Last year it was, after the UK, the largest market for Irish exports, a substantial proportion of which were produced by US companies in Ireland. US business also accounts for about 70% of all foreign direct investment and employs about 100,000 people, and this investment has created many clusters of indigenous Irish companies who do business in their own right. Successful US business models and practices have been adopted into the Irish mainstream.
For our part, we also have much to offer you. As many of you know, US investors can take advantage of our low rate of Corporate Taxation and gain access to a highly lucrative European market of some 360 million people, a figure which will rise to 480 million after enlargement when the countries of Eastern Europe, return to their common European Homeland. Workers here also benefit from the jobs generated by Irish companies, which we are proud to say employ more than 65,000 people in the United States.
We are both also investing in the knowledge economy and research and development to ensure our place in the future. The Irish Government, for example, recently established Science Foundation Ireland to further encourage research in these vital areas and, led by a US scientist, it is attracting eminent international scientists from around the world to work with their Irish colleagues in developing a wealth of projects which will secure a prosperous future.
We are, of course, not the only countries seeking to develop the knowledge economy as a way of gaining our place in the sun. There are many other countries and regions with similar aspirations and dreams. Some have a long way to go while others are well along the road. Just as we in Ireland have been powerfully encouraged by our friends here in the United States and our European Union partners, we look forward to offering support to others as they struggle to bring hope and prosperity to their people.
We all know that we cannot prosper or guarantee our security by making ourselves a comfortable, complacent citadel. While our life’s choices in the developed world grow exponentially, the life choices of our brothers and sisters in the developing world are going in the opposite direction. Our lives are appreciably better today than they were twenty years ago, theirs are either no better or considerably worse, as the international community reduces financial assistance and as the scourges of Aids and violent conflict turn the clock back to the dark ages. Our world is still like a ten-cylindered super racing car that is only firing on one cylinder. We have no idea of what this world could be like if all its genius and potential was being harnessed, if it was firing on all cylinders. We do know the price we pay though for relentless poverty, for unremitting conflict, for the distillation of hopelessness into the white-hot anger of mindless hatred. We know that a secure economic future for all of us depends on how conscientiously we exercise our responsibilities as members of the world community of a common human family.
Ireland’s success story is manifest evidence of the power we have to change the future by effective partnerships and the politics of encouragement and affirmation. We were a third world country within living memory and today we are among the wealthy nations of the world. That witness to human potential is powerful and it is precisely why we so highly value our links with bodies such as yours. The advice and support of the Ireland‑US Council is greatly appreciated in Ireland, and your contribution to Ireland’s economic success cannot be overestimated. Above all, your friendship, as a group and individually, so readily offered over the years, remains a great source of inspiration and encouragement.
It is good to be here with you to say thank-you; to join you in celebrating the unique bonds of affection that exist between Ireland and the United States; to reflect with shared sorrow on what was lost on September 11th and to acknowledge with admiration and respect what was found on that day, in the hearts and hands of the people of this much loved city.
May I wish each and every one of you a very happy St Patrick’s Day with space for joy and space for sorrow but the biggest space of all reserved for hope.
Lúireach Phádraig go raibh ina sciath cosanta oraibh go brách. Go raibh maith agaibh.
Thank you.