REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION FOR DELEGATES TO THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION FOR DELEGATES TO THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND
Martin and I would like very much to welcome you here this evening to our home – Áras an Uachtaráin – and to say how happy we are to have this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for the important contribution that you have made to the process of peace and reconciliation on this island.
Indeed, this house – formerly the Viceregal Lodge – the symbol of the British presence in Dublin for so many generations – and now the official residence of the President of Ireland – spans the many events in our shared history – and is therefore a fitting place for us to receive you at this time important time in that history. It is a time of much hope – a time when we have seen major developments in the relationships between the two main traditions – and new possibilities opening up for sustained peace and prosperity in the years and decades ahead.
It is because of this breakthrough in the process that we have invited you here this evening – to give you the recognition and thanks that you so richly deserve for your continued support over the years – when at times it may even have seemed a pointless exercise. But it was your support – translated into material support for the many cross-community projects, schemes and ventures that it has spawned – that has played such a significant part in the process of opening up dialogue – of opening up minds – especially at community level – and that has enabled the political process to achieve what it has. It was the availability of financial support that in many cases forced people across the divide to come together – and in the process to discover what could be achieved in partnership rather than in conflict. It goes without saying that the important and significant developments in the political arena – however ground-breaking they may be – cannot endure without the hearts and minds of the communities being in tune with and supportive of these developments.
That process of community dialogue has been ongoing in the villages and towns that span the divide – and has been facilitated by the many contributors to the International Funds. I want to pay tribute to the people who have supported the Funds – and who, in the process, have contributed in a material and very real way, to the development of new relationships within and across the communities concerned. You will realise also that the work which you have facilitated must continue – and in many ways is more vital now, when the pace of developments is changing gear - and people are beginning to focus on how they will be affected by the political processes that are unfolding.
So my role this evening is twofold – to thank you for your work which has proved to be such a major catalyst in the recent developments – and to ask you to continue with your efforts as we move into a new and exciting phase – a phase which will require everybody on this island to re-assess their views of the ‘others’ with whom we share this piece of God’s earth.
I said earlier that this place spans the events of our shared history. The story spans several centuries – and is preserved to this day in the art and architecture of the house. All of you are welcome this evening to tour the rooms – to get a flavour of the people and events that have made it what it is today – and to see how the two traditions on this island can exist in harmony and mutual respect – each drawing on their diversity and shared experiences to enrich the other.
To us, Áras an Uachtaráin is not just a home – it is a place for all traditions and cultures on this island to share. Over the course of my term of office, Martin and I intend to continue to use it as a place where links can be forged between people and communities – and where traditions and beliefs can be respected and celebrated.