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ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY MC ALEESE TO THE IRISH AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY MC ALEESE TO THE IRISH AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION PERTH

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to have this opportunity to address the Irish Australian Business Association and to express my appreciation of your considerable and critical work in promoting links between our two countries. I am grateful for the warm welcome you have extended to me on this my first morning in Australia. It seems right that I should begin my State Visit - the first of my Presidency - in Western Australia whose economy was changed forever by a famous Irishman from Clare - Paddy Hannen - who discovered gold at Kalgoorlie. I am told that this State has never looked back since.

Not surprisingly those of Irish birth and heritage have continued to play a significant role in the business life of this State, as they have in all other sectors. The diversity of their influence is mirrored in the diversity of the interests represented by the membership of this Association - from bankers, financiers and insurers to engineers, software producers and management consultants, doctors and dentists, miners, sculptors, pub owners and property developers. You play a vital role.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

As this is the first occasion on which I have an opportunity to make a more formal address I feel it is appropriate that I should outline some of the main themes which I propose to stress in the course of my visit to Australia. The Irish-Australian relationship is, despite the great distance in miles, warm and close. The depth of the relationship stems from a shared kinship and friendship, as well as from a shared openness and enthusiasm for the future development of our peoples in vibrant, resilient and inclusive democracies with responsive, competitive and dynamic economies.

I hope to learn much more of Australia during my visit, and at the same time to convey a message to all friends of Ireland in this country that Ireland is a thriving society which has found a confident stride within the European community in which her cultural, social and economic identity can develop. Our easy Europeaness enriches our engagement not just with our European neighbours but with our friends across the globe to whom we bring an Ireland with a surging energy, a strong and clear-sighted sense of purpose. We have seen the benefit of partnership – we know we are at our best when collaborating and sharing. The old Irish expression “Ní neart go cur le chéile” – has come into its own.

The history of the Australian Federation reminds us of just what can be achieved through cooperation and collective action, and we in Ireland are enthusiastic participants in the exciting European project dedicated to peace and prosperity for all our people. I would hope to be able to demonstrate to Australian audiences that the Ireland which enters the new millennium does so with strong and well based hopes for lasting peace across our own Island, with strong and well based reasons for economic optimism, and with strong and well based confidence in our own future. This is an important and impressive message to be able to convey to a country which I know itself has a fascinating history as well as an exciting and dynamic future.

The significance of our bilateral economic relations with Australia in the areas of trade, investment, and tourism is evident from even a cursory glance at the relevant statistics. Australia is Ireland’s sixth most valuable market outside the European Union and Ireland is ranked 28th among Australia’s suppliers, ahead of larger European Union economies such as Austria and Denmark. I understand that, in a highly enjoyable relationship, Irish exports to Australia include alcoholic beverages such as Jameson, Guinness and Baileys, while imports from Australia include a substantial quantity of your truly excellent wines, especially those from the Margaret River. Not a few Irish are of course growers of Australian wines – they are among today’s Wine Geese – who fill us with a hope and pride the 17th Century was robbed of when the Wild Geese, the great and good in politics and the academy, fled an unhappy island.

Today’s Ireland occupies a key position as an important gateway to the European market, and this is one of its great attractions to investors. Indeed, Ireland has benefitted substantially from inward direct investment and has welcomed some fifteen Australian companies which are engaged in manufacturing and financial services, and now employ some 1400 people. This morning I am delighted to welcome news of the latest arrival - this time from Perth - your own I and E Systems Company which has just announced the decision to locate in Cork with plans to create up to sixty new jobs. They are enthusiastically welcome.There is also an increasing recognition in Ireland that Australia has a similar role as an important gateway to the Asia-Pacific region, and Irish companies are engaging in cooperative arrangements with Australian companies marketing in South-East Asia. Moreover, many of the largest Irish companies have established a presence in Australia, including Fitzwilton, Waterford-Wedgwood, Masstock, Bank of Ireland, and most recently the Kerry Group, as well as Iona Technologies which has chosen to be based here in Perth.

Tourism is a major success story of our relationship. It has grown enormously in recent years and reached 110,000 in 1997. This has been assisted by the skilful marketing efforts of the Irish Tourist Board - Bord Fáilte - and by close cooperation between Qantas and our national airline, Aer Lingus. I am also delighted by the excellent working relationship between Bord Fáilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board who have joined together for a number of effective marketing efforts including the promotion of an all-Ireland holiday guide.

These facts and figures - and I could quote more - testify to the success of your work and the work of other dynamic agencies and bodies committed to the task of forging mutually beneficial exchanges between Ireland and Australia.

I hope you will forgive me then this morning if I concentrate for a moment upon one side of this benevolent equation. I do this because the economic scene in Ireland at this time is extremely good. The Irish economy is now experiencing its fifth year of extraordinary growth, dynamism and development. The figures are truly remarkable and I shall return to these in a moment.

Within living memory Ireland has moved from being a highly protected economy to a very open society with one of the most trade dependent economies in the world. Somewhat to our surprise, we have found in recent years that, per capita, we are the third largest exporter in the world, after Singapore and Belgium. Accession to the then EEC created a truly dynamic effect for our exports which has transformed our economy into a full player in the wider European economy and globally.

The following indicators should give some idea of just how far we have come in recent years:

in the five year period 1993 - 1997, the economy has grown by almost 40% in real terms. This year our GDP and GNP are forecast to grow in volume terms by 8.7% and 7.5 % respectively;

our inflation rate remains under control and is expected to average around 2.75% in 1998; and,

we have achieved record employment which is expected to grow by 50,000 this year. Although we are only 1% of the population of the European Union - one in every ten jobs created in Europe last year was created in Ireland.

A number of factors have contributed to this impressive performance. Successive Governments have laid the basis for current developments and our own ambition to achieve the greatest possible integration with our European partners has been a continuing driving force in our economic policies:

since the late 1980's strict budgetary discipline has been a hallmark of government policy;

we have invested heavily in our infrastructure, particularly in education, telecommunications, roads, ports and airports; and,

moderate wage increases have been achieved through a series of comprehensive agreements involving the Government and the social partners.

While many factors have played their part, the remarkable growth and employment performance of the Irish economy over recent years is also attributable to the availability of a young, highly skilled and flexible labour force, reflecting Ireland’s population structure and the crucial investment in education – no other European country spends as much on education as we do. That investment has unlocked the genius and creativity of our people, and has given us the very resource a modern economy needs - an educated, adaptable, disciplined workforce.

We must, however, acknowledge that this transformation would have been impossible without Ireland’s membership of the European Union. Access to the Single Market has attracted foreign investors. This fact combined with our own increasing ability - assisted by European Development Funds - to make and deliver upon commitments to education, training, and infrastructural development, has resulted in the recipe for the success we now enjoy.

Needless to say, our strong economic performance of recent years is still quite new and needs to be consolidated. We will not be lulled into complacency by some of the more euphoric reports in the international media on Ireland’s recent economic success. Our objective will be to ensure that our infrastructural development, our productive capacity and our investment in human resources and overall competitiveness are copperfastened on a permanent and sustainable basis.

There are new generations coming, with high expectations, we owe it to them to consolidate our success and to make it theirs too.

I hope I have not dwelt too long on the dry material of economic analysis, but it is important that I convey to you the reasons for the very real energy and enthusiasm which is evident throughout Ireland today and which is supported by the economic advances I have described. Like Australia, Ireland is a young and optimistic country. We have found our feet within the European Union and the wider world and are looking forward to the new millennium with increasing confidence. Those who feared we would lose our identity have been proved so wrong. Our economic renaissance is matched by a cultural renaissance across every discipline. Ireland is a country in its stride – self-confident, not smug and arrogant, just so pleased that at last its talent is flowering organically, spontaneously, naturally.

Another prime reason for the present sense of optimism in Ireland, is of course the historic development regarding Northern Ireland. As you know, after many months and indeed years of arduous multi-party negotiations, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded on 10 April. That Agreement envisages a future based on the acceptance of diversity and on the principles of mutual respect, equality and partnership. I believe that the Good Friday Agreement offers a historic opportunity for a new beginning in relationships within Northern Ireland and between Britain and Ireland. It is fair, balanced and comprehensive.

It is clear that most of the people of Ireland both North and South see the Agreement as overwhelmingly their best hope for a better future, and as you know, they gave a resounding “yes” to peace and partnership in their vote on 22 May in its favour. I might add here that the Statement issued by the Australian Government and the resolutions adopted by the Australian Federal Parliament welcoming the results of the vote, was very much appreciated by us.

We in Ireland also deeply appreciate the support given by Australia to the efforts by the British and Irish Governments to reach a peaceful settlement over the years. Not least do we appreciate the Australian contribution to the International Fund, which was set up by the British and Irish Governments to promote economic progress and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists throughout Ireland.

This year for the first time, the Fund carried out two youth training projects in Australia, in the course of which young people from the two communities in the North and the South worked together. This provides them both with a qualification and experience, as well as the all important opportunity in the Northern Ireland context, of mixing with people from another tradition.

As you can well understand, there are still many difficulties ahead and, as the appalling Omagh bombing showed, there are those on the fringes who seek to bring down the Agreement by force. Nevertheless, with the support of the people and their political representatives, North and South, these challenges can be met with confidence so that everyone in Ireland can have a prosperous and more peaceful future.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I congratulate you on your great efforts to promote the Irish Australian Business relationship and I am pleased that so many were able to join me this morning as I begin a journey across this great and beautiful land that I have wished for so long to visit.