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ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT MARY ROBINSON,  TO CHICAGO COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT MARY ROBINSON, TO CHICAGO COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, FAIRMOUNT HOTEL TUESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 1996

I would like to thank the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations for giving me the opportunity to talk to you today about the role of Ireland in the modern world.

The last time I addressed this Council was in March 1980, when I came before you as a humble back-bench Senator. In the sixteen years since then much has happened to develop and shape what is now the modern Ireland. I would like to encapsulate for you some of the significant shifts of consciousness and changes, but of course the best way to assess them would be to come over and see for yourselves.

You would find a confident Ireland, willing to assume its international responsibilities. During the second half of this year, Ireland takes on for the fifth time the rotating Presidency of the European Union. The Intergovernmental Conference, which opens next month, will continue during the Irish Presidency. Chairing the Council and Intergovernmental meetings, and the many committees at the European level, as well as representing the European Union internationally, will undoubtedly create many challenges for Irish Government Ministers and the Irish public service, but the opportunity to play a central role at the European level is welcomed, and intensive preparations have taken place to meet the challenges.

Ireland's participation in the current process of European integration and our close and long-standing ties with the United States are two major factors in framing our foreign policy. Our active involvement in the United Nations has stemmed from our commitment to the objective of promoting international peace, prosperity and respect for human rights while our tradition of active engagement in Africa has grown out of our concern to assist in some way in addressing the economic and social factors contributing to instability on that continent.

Ireland has a long association with UN peacekeeping activities. Since 1958, some 42,000 Irish military and police personnel have served as UN peacekeepers with 19 different operations throughout the world. Our peacekeeping contribution continues to be required, reflecting the constant need for the UN to respond to the containment of international conflicts. When President Clinton addressed the Irish Parliament last November he paid particular tribute to the extent of this peacekeeping role by Ireland.

Ireland has established other priorities in the context of the UN. It has been to the forefront in promoting disarmament and international arms control, including the elimination of nuclear weapons. Respect for humanitarian law and the universal implementation of human rights are major issues facing all member states. Ireland has also laid particular emphasis on the UN's role and responsibility in advancing the economic and social development of all states, and in particular those of the developing world.

I had the opportunity last October to address, on the behalf of Ireland, the Special Commemorative Session celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the UN. In common with may other Heads of State, I lent support to the process of renewal and reform which is now underway within the organisation. It is clear that the system needs to be put on a secure financial footing if it is to respond to increasing threats to international and regional security. All UN member-States share a responsibility, both to their own peoples and in particular to the powerless and dispossessed of the world, to ensure that the United Nations continues as a unique and effective instrument of peace, humanity and justice for all.

During my return visit to Rwanda last October, I was impressed by what has been achieved with very limited resources by the Government and people of Rwanda since last year's appalling genocide. However, alongside the progress made towards national reconstruction, I also witnessed the deep felt suffering of the survivors of genocide alongside the suffering of those incarcerated in overcrowded refugee camps and prisons. This common strand of suffering which permeates all sides in war and conflict has made me acutely aware that greater support is needed from the international community.

In witnessing the painful legacy of genocide and war in Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia, I have also witnessed the deep commitment and engagement of Irish humanitarian workers, missionaries and peacekeepers in the field. This reflects what is now a long tradition of Irish missionary and humanitarian support which has been, and continues to be, given selflessly by Irish people throughout Africa. At home their efforts enjoy the unconditional support of a concerned public who have shown their preparedness to respond generously for the sake of others.

There is a genuine interest and involvement in issues of famine, disease, poverty and sustainable development in third world countries throughout all sectors of the population in Ireland, and from schoolchildren to old age pensioners. It reflects our sense of our own history, and the devastating impact of the great potato famine in the 1840s. The 150th anniversary is being commemorated not only throughout Ireland, North and South, but by Irish communities around the world. The focus in looking back at that tragedy - when over a five year period a million died and more than two million emigrated from Ireland - is to create a powerful link and empathy with famine and suffering in the world today. The memory of the famine is, therefore, an important factor shaping the conscience of the modern Ireland.Ireland's membership of the European Union has not diminished the importance which we attach to our relationship with the United States. On the contrary, while our relationship with the United States is now evolving within the framework of the wider relationship between Europe and the United States, we see membership of the European Union and our relationship with the United States as mutually reinforcing elements of our international relations. Our links with the United States remain strong, based on a network of personal ties which stretch back into the last century and on a rich tradition of cultural interchange.

It is a source of particular pride to Ireland that the present framework for dialogue and partnership between the European Union and the United States, the Trans-Atlantic Agenda and Action Plan, has developed from the 1990 Trans-Atlantic Declaration, an initiative promoted by Ireland the last time it held the Presidency of the European Union.

Ireland warmly welcomes the Trans-Atlantic Agenda and Action Plan agreed by the European Union and the United States in 1995. This structure allows for co-operation in a range of fields, on foreign policy issues, humanitarian assistance, business initiatives, environmental projects and cultural projects. It offers the opportunity, in the foreign policy area, for both parties to develop a deeper understanding of each other's concerns and approaches in relation to international issues. Close co-operation between the European Union and the United States should also enhance the overall capacity of the international community to respond to the ever more complex challenges with which we are faced.

Ireland's economic performance is of course vital to our success as a nation. Our manufacturing sector has been transformed over the last twenty-five years and especially during the period of our membership of the European Union. Irish industry is now based on modern technology and two-thirds of its production is destined for export. Corresponding to this development, the young people of the 1990s are embarking in considerable numbers on scientific and technological careers. Ireland has been seeking to provide centres of excellence in research and development, and has already had some success in the areas of electronic research, biotechnology, and in composite materials for engineering. The number of young people graduating in mathematics, engineering and computer science has increased substantially. They have found employment not only within Ireland but in many other countries including the United States and Japan.

One of the sectors which has shown remarkable growth in Ireland as elsewhere is the software industry, whose exports are now valued in billions of dollars. Apart from the major multinationals in the field of information technology, the number of indigenous Irish software companies is now estimated at 400.

An important part of this success has been the contribution brought by foreign firms. We now have a thousand of these located in Ireland. Four hundred of them have come from the United States. I would like to pay tribute to these firms and to what they have brought to the Irish economy. While our country has benefited from their energy and expansion, I believe the investing companies have also gained substantially. They have been attracted to Ireland by the quality of our workforce, by our integration into the Single European Market with its 370 million consumers, the facility of access and communication and by a rate of corporation tax of only 10%. They have found in Ireland the most profitable location in Europe, with a return on investment almost four times the European average, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

It may be pertinent at this point to refer to the present performance of the Irish economy. In a year when economic growth world-wide was tending to slow, Ireland achieved a GNP growth rate in 1995 of seven and a quarter per cent, exceeding even the record year of 1994. This was the highest rate in the OECD. Foreign trade increased at almost twice that rate: imports by 11.5%, and exports by 13.5%. Inflation held at a modest 2.5%. Even more encouraging, perhaps, was the increase of 4.5% in non-agricultural employment.

I welcome the development of the economy because of the worthwhile challenges now offered to young Irish people. I believe they rise well to those challenges. We are very well aware in Ireland that we must work now to lay the foundations for the future. Since a nation's greatest resource is it people, we must give special attention to the development and education of young people. This is particularly vital for Ireland in the 1990s when 44% of our population is under 25 years of age. Of our total population of 3.5 million, one million are at present in full-time education. We have succeeded in recent years in expanding third-level education very significantly, so that two young people out of five can now go on to higher education, and this number is almost equally divided between the universities and the technical colleges.

As you will know, until the weekend before last, for almost eighteen months the scourge of violence was not a factor in the Northern Ireland situation. This has been profoundly welcomed by all the people of Ireland, and its wide-ranging benefits are already clear.

The economic impact of peace is manifest, not just within Northern Ireland but on the island of Ireland as a whole. Last summer witnessed a tourist boom. Many visitors to Northern Ireland have come from the South, a good number of them exploring a beautiful part of their own island for the first time. Many more came South from Northern Ireland. There are signs of increased interest from international investors. Substantial additional international support from the European Union has begun to come on stream; the US Government has remained engaged in the promotion of trade and investment in the follow-up to the successful Washington Conference last May. There is an ever-greater determination on the part of business people North and South to take full advantage of the many opportunities offered by cross-border trade and co-operation.

Yet, as the recent tragic events have shown, the process of building peace is fraught with difficulties. There is a need now to dig deep and find a renewed commitment to go forward in a peaceful political path, and to reach out even more urgently in the search for understanding among the communities that share both islands. The past few days have seen a widespread renewal of that commitment and a reaffirmation that violence has no place in the process.

At this time we are grateful for the support, encouragement and guidance of our friends throughout the world. In particular, the continuing engagement of the United States, at all levels - from the President and the Congress down to state and local level - has been an invaluable resource of energy and goodwill. President Clinton's visit to Ireland at the end of last year provided a focus for a spontaneous outpouring of the desire of all our people that the peace be a lasting one. The response to his presence and his words showed in a dramatic way our appreciation of his efforts, and those of so many others in the United States, who have continued to offer even-handed and constructive assistance.

It is appropriate, in conclusion, to note the influence on the modern Ireland of the Irish diaspora. That influence has strengthened greatly in the period since I last addressed this Council. The process has been a two way one. Irish communities around the world have asserted their pride in their Irish roots, and their desire to deepen their links with Ireland. On the island of Ireland there is an awareness that the painful pattern of emigration has resulted, ironically, in a vibrant resource which should be included into a modern sense of Irishness. There has been a subtle shift: the concept of Irishness is no longer simply territorial. It has broadened out to encompass the diverse array of people throughout the world for whom Ireland is a place of origin.

This broader sense of Irishness could, I believe, help relationships on the island of Ireland. It can reach out to, honour and respect those in Northern Ireland whose sense of identity and cultural values may be more British than Irish. It may encourage them, in turn, to acknowledge that one strong sense of identity need not exclude another, so that they could develop what Seamus Heaney has called "two-mindedness". I will end with a notable passage from a lecture he gave as Professor of poetry at Oxford:

"There is nothing extraordinary about the challenge to be in two minds. If, for example, there was something exacerbating, there was still nothing deleterious to my sense of Irishness in the fact that I grew up in the minority in Northern Ireland and was educated within the dominant British culture. My identity was emphasised rather than eroded by being maintained in such circumstances. The British dimension, in other words, while it is something that will be resisted by the minority if it is felt to be coercive, has nevertheless been a given of our history and even of our geography, one of the places where we all live, willy-nilly. It's in the language. And it's where the mind of many in the Republic lives also. So I would suggest that the majority in Northern Ireland should make a corresponding effort at two-mindedness, and start to conceive of themselves within - rather than beyond - the Irish element. Obviously, it will be extremely difficult for them to surmount their revulsion against all the violence that has been perpetrated in the name of Ireland, but everything and everybody would be helped were they to make their imagination press back against the pressure of reality and re-enter the whole country of Ireland imaginatively, if not constitutionally, through the northern point of the quincunx".