ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY ROBINSON TO A JOINT SITTING OF PARLIAMENT IN CAPE TOWN
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY ROBINSON TO A JOINT SITTING OF PARLIAMENT IN CAPE TOWN ON 26TH MARCH, 1996
In coming here to South Africa as President of Ireland I am fulfilling one of my deepest aspirations. Just a week before the presidential election in Ireland I was asked at a conference on international development whether I would pay a State visit to South Africa. I expressed the profound hope that one day it would be possible for such a visit to take place. The election result was declared on 9 November 1990 - the first anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a time of momentous change in Europe. I believe my election signalled the changes which were taking place in the modern Ireland. And on that day I was aware that it was possible that much more fundamental changes, profound shifts of consciousness, could take place in South Africa.
A five year time span is very short in the history of a country and its people. Yet well within that period all had changed: South Africa was transformed from a country isolated by its policy of apartheid to the new multi-cultural South African nation. It must be encouraging for you, on occasions such as this, to hear of the admiration and respect you have earned in the process. Events here were followed particularly closely in Ireland, for reasons which I am sure you will appreciate. We witnessed the difficulties, the set backs, the frustrations, the pain of continuing violence - above all, the risks for peace which had to be taken.
Even after you had committed yourselves to the transformation of your society the obstacles and differences seemed at times insurmountable. And yet we saw how you surmounted them one by one. We followed the negotiations at Kempton Park to reach agreement on the transitional constitution. We saw parties with such diametrically opposed traditions and policies as the ANC, the National Party and the Inkarta Freedom Party commit themselves to work together in the envisaged Government of National Unity. We saw nerves hold steady in the face of the threat of boycott and even large scale violence from the far right. We noted the resilience in preparing for elections despite continuing violence and enormous administrative problems. Above all, we were deeply moved by the long patient queues to vote, the majority doing so for the first time in their lives, which asserted a moral authority that stemmed the violence and unleashed a sense of shared nationhood. You were building what Archbishop Tutu has called the 'rainbow nation of God'.
I was honoured to represent Ireland at the inauguration of President Mandela in May 1994. For those of us who travelled here for the occasion the memories are vivid and unforgettable; the ecumenical prayers, the swearing-in itself, the fly-past of planes and helicopters, the deep roar of excitement from several hundred thousand in a valley below, the singing together by young people of different racial backgrounds of the new national anthem. It was a time of joy and of celebration. It was a time also, as the speeches emphasised, of difficult new beginnings which would require equal determination and sense of purpose in the years ahead.
You established an institutional framework which enabled you to address some of these difficulties, through the interim constitution itself and current preparations for the new constitution, through an independent constitutional court, the Bill of Rights adopted in 1993, the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a variety of checks and balances to prevent any form of discrimination, or domination or abuse of power. Your negotiated transition was consciously and painstakingly inclusive. The Government of National Unity and this two-chamber Parliament have been working on a Reconstruction and Development Programme transforming the economic and social structures of society to enable this great country to reach its full potential for the benefit of all its people.
I am glad to note that achieving your full potential has involved a conscious harnessing of the energies and skills of women who are making an enormous contribution at every level. Their vision, commitment and practical experience are vital to this rapidly changing society. I would like, through you, to encourage further the confident and wholehearted participation of women here in the new South Africa, as I do in the context of changes taking place in the modern Ireland.
But, above all else, your emphasis on national reconciliation strikes a deep chord in all of us who are striving to achieve peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain. In that very different context we, too, have understood the importance of language and symbols in changing attitudes. After twenty-five years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland the cessation of that violence in August 1994 afforded a unique opportunity for people on the island, North and South, to establish contacts at all levels and build links of friendship. Having savoured the benefits of this peace process there is a profound grassroots determination to maintain it, and to resolve differences through the political process. This public mood has been helpful to both the British and Irish Governments, and the political parties, in preparing for the all-party negotiations which will begin on 10 June. We, just as you did, need to achieve the required shifts of consciousness to secure a just and lasting framework of peace and reconciliation.
One such shift of consciousness is occurring in the way we define our Irishness. We recognise, not without irony, that the painful pattern of emigration from Ireland over several hundred years has resulted in a deepening and enrichment of our modern sense of identity. Irishness as a concept is no longer simply territorial. Our relationship with the array of some seventy million people outside Ireland for whom the island is a place of origin instructs Irish society in the values of diversity, tolerance and fairmindedness. On the island of Ireland itself this broader sense of Irishness can reach out to, and show itself capable of honouring and listening to, those unionists in Northern Ireland whose sense of identity and cultural values may be more British than Irish. They, in turn, may be encouraged to accord a genuine and wholehearted equality of esteem to their nationalist neighbours, who cherish their Irish identity, and long for the space to express it.
It is, I believe, a strong bond between us that Ireland and South Africa are engaged in parallel processes of reconciliation and renewal. But the future of South Africa extends beyond the hopes and needs of its own people to the whole continent of Africa and the future of all its peoples. This brings me to another bond between us. In welcoming the opportunity which this address gives me to convey my sense of the modern Ireland and Irishness today, I would wish to include the genuine interest and belief in the future of Africa which Irish people have, and to tell you why. Our history, too, has been one of struggle on the long road to freedom and justice. Our native language and the religion of the vast majority of our people were suppressed for long periods. During the darkest time, from 1845 to 1850, we suffered what has become known as the Great Potato Famine, when a million of the poorest Irish died and over two million emigrated to survive. This story of colonisation, famine and dispersal of people is one mirrored in the story of many African peoples. During that period when some European countries were engaged in the "scramble for Africa" the Irish were struggling to achieve their own independence.
Now we use our sense of history and symbols of the past to shape a modern Irish consciousness. The 150th anniversary of the Great Potato Famine is being commemorated at present, not just on the island of Ireland, North and South, but by the Irish diaspora throughout the world. The spirit of commemoration is not one of re-opening old wounds or renewing accusations, but of linking our experience of past suffering to the famine, poverty and disease in the world today. In other words, this commemoration has deepened our empathy with present suffering and our commitment to human rights. These in turn, I believe, are strong common bonds with the new South Africa.
This background explains why there was such a vigorous anti-apartheid movement in Ireland, ably led by Professor Kader Asmal and his wife, Louise, of which I was happy to be a patron. It explains also why the movement was a genuine grassroots one in Ireland, reflected in the famous strike caused because of the commitment of young women who refused to handle South African goods at supermarket checkouts. Indeed, we were moved when Nelson Mandela in his address to the Irish Parliament in July 1990 thanked us for 'one of the most energetic and effective anti-apartheid movements in the world'.
Let me refer, briefly, to some other features which have shaped the modern Ireland before turning to the theme of whether the bonds between us in our separate developments as peoples can become a link in addressing issues of human rights, poverty and exclusion, particularly elsewhere in Africa. An important factor for us has been our membership since 1973 of what is now the European Union. This helped develop Irish agriculture, it transformed the Irish economy into what is now the fastest growing, low-inflation, economy in the OECD, and it significantly helped inward investment and job creation. But of more fundamental importance were the psychological, political and cultural benefits. Membership, together with Britain, of a wider partnership of countries eased the historical burden of a post-colonial relationship. The closer link with Europe stimulated creativity in all the arts, and based on both the Irish and English languages, modern Irish culture is recognised as one of the most vibrant in Europe.
Psychologically, Irish people have adjusted with ease to a consciousness of being both Irish and European. We have a positive sense of the contribution which smaller countries can make in this context as we prepare to assume for the fifth time, in July, the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union. It is this confident, buoyant Ireland which is keen to develop commercial, trading and investment links with business in South Africa. I hope the trade mission accompanying this visit will deepen these bilateral links, and that Ireland's presidency of the European Union will enable us to assist in highlighting the importance of reaching agreement on better access by South Africa to the wider European market.
Let me turn now to the heart of what I wish to say here. The Irish and South African peoples have had difficult and turbulent paths to a modern sense of identity and nationhood. We each recognise that there are further accommodations still to be realised. What we share in common is a deeper sense of purpose fashioned in suffering: a commitment of our peoples to international human rights and freedoms, and to the economic and social rights essential to peaceful and sustainable development. South Africa is a large country whose future is crucial to that of the continent of Africa. Ireland is a small country forming part of the European Union, but with a history and sense of identity closer in many ways to the African than to the European experience.
I believe that our two peoples are guided by a moral compass which has evolved through our turbulent histories. It explains why in the poorest parts of this country and this continent you will find Irish religious of different denominations and lay development workers promoting local self-development. It is reflected in my own visits on behalf of the Irish people to Somalia and Rwanda, and to the refugee camps in Zaire and Tanzania to support humanitarian work. But it is also reflected in the State visits I have paid to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, as well as brief visits to Uganda, countries where Ireland has been increasing the scale of its bilateral aid projects at a time when some larger developed countries have been retrenching.
There is a lively and informed debate in Ireland on issues of international human rights and sustainable development. As well as deepening the personal, cultural and trading links between our two countries, I hope that this visit will have helped us to find in the bonds between us as peoples a link that goes beyond us. Let us carry forward the values which have shaped us and build a partnership of the new South Africa and the modern Ireland actively engaged in the promotion of international human rights and fairer economic and social development. Let us remember our own past suffering and link with the suffering of the poorest countries who need support in their self development.