ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY McALEESE AT THE BAKER INSTITUTE, RICE UNIVERSITY
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY McALEESE AT THE BAKER INSTITUTE, RICE UNIVERSITY, HOUSTON, TEXAS THURSDAY, 19 APRIL 2001
Thank you very much, Mr Baker, for your kind invitation to address the Baker Institute this evening. I would also like to thank President Gillis of Rice University. The impressive reputation of the Baker Institute and your work has travelled around the world, and I am delighted to follow in many illustrious footsteps in having an opportunity to address you. I am especially pleased to have this opportunity at such an important time in my own country, where we have been going through a period of such historic and rapid change in recent years.
It is an understatement to say that Ireland has known its share of conflict in the past. Our experience has taught us all too much about humankind’s capacity for perpetuating hatred and destruction, bigotry and revenge, generation after generation in a seemingly endless cycle. We emerged from a war of independence and endured a civil war which pitched friends and former allies against each other, and left a long and bitter legacy in its wake. More recently, we have endured three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland which, through the peace process, we are working to make a thing of the past. Because of our experience, we attach a very high value to conflict resolution and to peace, and I congratulate James Baker and his colleagues here on the important work you are doing in this area. For we, more than most, know that there is no conflict so intractable, no hatred so ingrained, that it cannot be ultimately transformed if men and women of goodwill are determined to pursue the course of peace.
Ireland today is a modern, confident, prosperous, nation looking forward to an even brighter future for the generations to come. We have, above all, a profound sense of optimism and hope. There are many reasons for this, but one of the more important factors is undoubtedly the dramatic transformation in the political landscape of Ireland brought about by the Good Friday Agreement. For the first time in over thirty years, the people of Ireland are working together to build a lasting peace. Through the Agreement, the parties to the age-old conflict in Northern Ireland have agreed a set of principles and a road map for the future. It has often been said and yet it is worth repeating: this is an historic breakthrough, and no effort will be spared in ensuring that it succeeds. For it has created the space in which peace can breathe, and where in turn the people of Northern Ireland can become accustomed to breathing the air of peace.
That offers tremendous hope not just for the people of Ireland, but for people in every part of our troubled world where lives have been hopelessly twisted and skewed by the atrocities of war. As a people that have known the devastating consequences of conflict and division, the Irish have always, as a nation, maintained a deep commitment not just to achieving peace in our own island, but to promoting the ideals of peace and conflict resolution throughout the world. This is part of our national identity, a part of which we are deeply proud.
Over many years, Irish volunteers and religious developed a strong tradition of offering help and support, often at great personal cost, to those less fortunate, particularly the innocent victims caught in the cross-fire of many conflicts around the world. This tradition continues and Irish men and women can be found in conflict and post-conflict situations all around the world, from East Timor to the Horn of Africa.
This tradition has also been reflected in our work in international fora, including the United Nations, where we are proud to play our role, particularly as a small nation, in contributing to the maintenance of international peace and security. When we joined the United Nations in 1955, we committed ourselves to help the resolution of conflict through peacekeeping, disarmament, protection of human rights and development cooperation. This strong commitment still guides our actions today, including at the United Nations Security Council where we recently began a two-year term.
For over forty years, we have been among the leading contributors of personnel to UN peace support operations. My first overseas visit as President was to the Irish contingent in UNIFIL in Southern Lebanon, where I was very honoured to have the opportunity to see the work being carried out by these exceptional people at first hand, and to acknowledge the service and the sacrifice of the thousands of Irish men and women abroad on UN peacekeeping service. In all, Irish soldiers and civilian police have served in more than 45,000 individual operations with more than thirty UN peacekeeping missions around the world.
These experiences reflect our conviction that it is possible to make a difference in other troubled parts of our small world where the politics of violence, oppression and the abuse of human rights still hold sway. No two conflicts are the same, and there is no one-size-fits-all template for their resolution. But just as we in Ireland owe much to the patient and ever-present support of the United States in assisting our peace process, we in turn are aware of our role and responsibility in sowing the seeds of peace elsewhere in the world where ethnic conflict prevails.
Conflict prevention and conflict resolution also lie at the heart of the European Union, of which we have been a member since 1973. Indeed the EU itself, built from the ruins of post-war Europe, is one of the greatest examples of how it is possible for old enemies to come together and forge new relationships build on mutual trust and respect. Today, that founding ideal remains as valid as ever. Against the background of the terrible events in the Balkans over the last ten years, EU Member States, including Ireland, are establishing crisis management structures and procedures which seek to ensure that opportunities to prevent conflict are evaluated and foreseen from the very outset. Where conflict occurs, the EU aims to be able to avail of the range of instruments and resources which are at its disposal in order that such conflict might quickly be resolved. Co-ordination with other relevant international organisations and with countries such as the United States is a key consideration in this regard.
I have referred to how Ireland’s commitment to supporting the resolution of conflict around the world, has been nourished by and reflected in the invaluable solidarity of the international community with our own efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. In this context, it is almost impossible to overestimate the importance of the longstanding support of the United States and we greatly value the commitment of your former Governor, President Bush, and his new Administration to maintaining US support for the Good Friday Agreement. We also deeply appreciate the support of the US Congress, where the peace process continues to have bipartisan support.
Many of you here are already familiar with the long history of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Although more than three thousand people died, and tens of thousands were injured, these grim and appalling statistics do not even begin to show the enormous human cost of the tragedy and its devastating effect on people’s lives.
The peace process which eventually brought us the Good Friday Agreement has been a long and a painstaking one. It did not end with the signing of the Agreement, or with the referenda on both parts of the island which showed that, away from the negotiating tables and the complex language, it had the overwhelming support of the people, and the people wanted peace. More than anything else, the Good Friday Agreement means the beginning of a new era and a fresh start. The process continues to ensure that it succeeds.
There was no one overwhelming incident or turning point leading to the start of the current peace process. It was instead born out of the vision of those who looked at the grinding demoralisation and destruction caused by a seemingly endless, senseless cycle of violence, and knew that it simply could not be allowed to go on. They believed that a future built in peace and partnership by the two traditions on the island of Ireland - nationalist and unionist - was not just possible, it was the only way forward. It has been a long journey for, in the words of the Ulster poet, John Hewitt, ‘we build to fill the centuries arrears’. It takes time to erode the bitterness that has been layered up over the years, it takes patience and the belief that progress, however slow, is worth each painstaking step
Since the 1980's, in particular, the British and Irish Governments had been working together to construct a framework in which to resolve the conflict. Talks in the early 1990s may be seen as precursors of the talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement but, because of the continuing violence of the time, they were not fully inclusive and they did not produce concrete results. With the Downing Street Declaration in 1993, the British and Irish Governments set out their approach to the principles of non-discrimination and consent, and laid the basis for inclusive discussions on the future of Northern Ireland.
Both Governments recognised the importance of bringing all sides together from across the political spectrum. In effect, this meant bringing in from the cold those who, through their pursuit of violence, had excluded themselves from the processes of dialogue. With the benefit of hindsight, this may seem an obvious step but at the time it required vision and courage. In the Declaration, the Government offered a place at the negotiating table to all parties who had committed themselves to peaceful and democratic means. The resumption of the IRA cease-fire in July 1997 set the scene for the talks to begin.
The Irish and British Governments recognised that, in the negotiations, there were a great many issues to be teased out and dealt with in a comprehensive and balanced way if an agreed outcome was to be secured. There could be no winners or losers. All sides were required to make significant compromises. Through the process of negotiation, and often for the first time, parties on all sides sat down together and at least tried to develop a better understanding of each other’s positions.
The negotiations did not shy away from difficult and divisive issues - human rights, policing, justice, the demilitarisation of society, the resolution of the question of arms. The talks recognised the importance of these issues, and how failure to successfully address them had long undermined efforts at peaceful resolution.
The negotiations addressed other concerns, and political and constitutional issues on all sides. There would be no change in the constitutional position of Northern Ireland unless it was the wish of the people. The authority of whichever Government was sovereign would be exercised with parity of esteem and with just and equal treatment for the identity, ethos and aspirations of both communities.
All the parties committed themselves to resolving political differences by exclusively peaceful means, and acknowledged the legitimacy of their different political aspirations.
This was indeed an historic breakthrough.
At the core of the Good Friday Agreement is the recognition of the multi-faceted nature of identity and of the vital importance of three sets of relationships - those within Northern Ireland, within the island of Ireland and between both islands - which are essential to a lasting, peaceful settlement. The Agreement has also provided for institutional arrangements to reflect these relationships.
Today, these institutions are in place. In Northern Ireland, in the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, Nationalists and Unionists are working together, on an equal basis, to serve all of the people of Northern Ireland. This work is vital in contributing to long-term stability by building confidence in the institutions of the Agreement and what they can deliver in terms of improvements in every day lives. The work continues step by step. Some months ago, for example, the Executive agreed a budget and a Programme for Government which are already having a very positive effect.
Government Ministers from Ireland, North and South are working together in the North-South Ministerial Council, developing invaluable cooperation in many areas of real importance affecting the daily lives of the people of the island of Ireland, North and South in a practical, positive way. For example, an all-Ireland body, Intertrade Ireland, has been established to support and promote the development of cross-border trade. It is by such obvious, day-to-day, even mundane measures to promote co-operation, that peace becomes deep rooted.
Another of the institutions of the Agreement is the British-Irish Council which brings together the two Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive as well as the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The Council has made a productive start, and we look forward to following its continuing development in the future.
Today, all parties to the Agreement continue to work to ensure its implementation. This work is sometimes as challenging as it is valuable. There are differences in interpretation as well as particular points of emphasis, but the implementation of the Agreement, like the peace process itself, is taking place step by step.
The Good Friday Agreement will, we believe, change the political landscape of Northern Ireland for the better and forever, but we do not take this for granted. Our goal now is ensuring that the extraordinary potential it offers is fulfilled, and that we take this opportunity of creating an Ireland for future generations where, in the memorable words of Seamus Heaney ‘hope and history rhyme’.
We have come a very long way but there is a journey ahead of us still. The deep wounds that scar the people on all sides of this conflict must be allowed to heal. We are more conscious than ever of the need to promote and encourage the reconciliation, mutual understanding and respect which are so essential to consolidating peace. It is not an overnight process, but with support and goodwill we are confident it will succeed.
There are many different facets to conflict resolution and the building of peace. It has not been easy, but we believe we have made a very good start. Another Irish writer, George Bernard Shaw, once wrote that “peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous.” Ironic but true.
Our experience has taught us that there is no greater prize, no more difficult task and no greater satisfaction than to begin to heal the wounds of history and the scars of intolerance. We have a long way still to go, but we are looking forward to the journey ahead.
Thank you.