ADDRESS AT THE DINNER HOSTED BY THE FRANCO-IRISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (CCIFI)
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY ROBINSON, AT THE DINNER HOSTED BY THE FRANCO-IRISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to be with you and to address the annual gala dinner of the Franco-Irish Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I should like to pay tribute to the work of your President Jean Boudy, of your Executive Secretary, Veronica Comyn, and of the other officers. I recognise the contribution the Chamber is making to the development of ever closer trade and economic links between Ireland and France.
As you will know, my presence in Paris is related to the Imaginaire Irlandais festival of contemporary Irish culture which will continue here in Paris and in several centres all around France until the Autumn. It is an exciting venture which has already generated very great interest and publicity for Ireland.
We in Ireland often have the impression that the image of Ireland which is current in France is of the traditional Ireland, rural and scenic. The best-known Irish writers and artists are perhaps those of the twenties and thirties - Joyce, O'Flaherty, Wilde, Beckett. The films which cinema and television have brought to French audiences portray in general the same kind of Ireland. Those of you who have been sufficiently long in Paris will recall the Tresors d'Irlande exhibition at the Grand Palais in 1982, which brought many of the great Celtic treasures in Ireland's National Museum and other collections to Paris and made a very significant impact.
The originality of the Imaginaire is that it offers another facet of Ireland. It is a celebration of contemporary Ireland and of the range of talent it has to offer in writing and poetry, the visual arts, drama, the cinema, the theatre and music. There can be no doubt that young artists and performers from Ireland are having an impact in Europe and in the world at large out of all proportion to our size and population. The award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Seamus Heaney was an outstanding example of artistic achievement, and one in which all Irish people took pride, but it is by no means the only example of international recognition for the current generation of writers and artists.
It has been satisfying and rewarding to see this message of contemporary Ireland communicated in France through the Imaginaire programme. However, the arts are not the only field in which Ireland has changed. Our economy has also undergone a profound transformation during the past few decades, and continues to change.
Broadly speaking, this can be dated back to our decision to join the EEC and to take the necessary steps to prepare ourselves for membership. This involved a conscious decision to diversify our trade and to seek foreign investment. In this process we have not lost touch with our traditional base. The large numbers of tourists who come to Ireland every year do so above all for the scenery and the welcome. Tourism is now a major contributor to the economy, valued at £2 billion a year and employing almost 200,000 people. A new five-year development programme for tourism will see a further £652 million invested, and 35,000 new jobs created, between now and 1999.
France is both a major tourism source and an important destination. Last year about 242,000 French people travelled to Ireland, an increase on the previous year at a time when almost all other destinations for French tourists were down. About the same number of Irish visitors come each year to France. Air and sea links continue to develop.
The food industry has also made a very important contribution to the development of the economy. In Ireland we can genuinely pride ourselves on an unspoiled environment which is the basis for the high-quality products which we send to Europe. Irish beef, lamb, fish and seafood are increasingly establishing themselves in discriminating European markets. The agri-food area has seen the growth of contacts between Irish and French companies, with investment, joint ventures and licensing agreements.
Alongside these sectors, however, there has been a revolution in the make-up of the Irish economy and the composition of our trade. This has come about largely because of the availability of skilled young people and our position as a member of the European Community. This combination has made Ireland an attractive destination for foreign investment. Irish industry has also played its part in this process, showing imagination and initiative in the face of the many challenges posed by foreign markets. Thanks to these factors we have developed significantly in modern, high-technology industries, including computers and software, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications equipment and financial services. Among the foreign companies present in Ireland, in these sectors primarily, we are happy to count no less than 88 French companies. Irish companies have, in turn, invested in France.
In recent years Ireland has been one of the best performing economies in the European Union. Since 1987 in particular, the economy has gone through a period of very strong growth, with an average annual GDP growth of over 5%, significantly above the EU and OECD averages. In 1995 real GNP is estimated to have grown by 6.75%. Growth in 1996 is expected to be in the region of 5%.
This has been accompanied by consistently low inflation and low interest rates. Strong international demand has benefited our exports, and domestic demand has also been strong. Ireland is today one of the most open economies in the European Union. Exports account for roughly two thirds of GDP.
We should of course acknowledge the contribution made by significant structural and cohesion funding from the EU, which has enabled us in particular to maintain high levels of infrastructural investment.
The Ireland with which France trades and does business, and which is its partner in the European Union and in the building of Europe, is a modern, outward-looking country, with highly-developed skill levels in high technology and in a range of modern industries. It is a modern economy, able to compete in the most difficult markets. In economic life and business, as in the arts, it is showing a new face to Europe, an expression of the vigour and creativity which enable us to take pride in ourselves and to make our presence felt in Europe and in the world. This Ireland has drawn on the richness of our traditions and taken inspiration from them. The two are by no means incompatible or in opposition. We have learned to change while preserving the best, giving it new expression in a new context. In this process, our links with Europe have been a key factor, and the contribution made by Irish people abroad has been invaluable.
I want to offer the Chamber my sincere thanks for its contribution in the past and in the future to this process. I would also like to avail of this opportunity to encourage you to take advantage of the Imaginaire to make contact with the best in contemporary Ireland and to come to know a dimension of Ireland of which we at home feel very proud.