REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION IN CITY HALL, SAN FRANCISCO
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION IN CITY HALL, SAN FRANCISCO, ON TUESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 1999.
A Mhéara de Brún (Browne) agus a chairde,
Ba mhaith liom ar dtús mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Mhéara de Brún, leis an Teachta Oireachtais Kevin Shelly agus leis an Maoirseoir Gavin Newsom as gach a bhfuil ráite acu agus as fáilte chaoin a chur romham. Is mór an lúcháir atá orm, mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, a bheith anseo libh inniu. Tréaslaím leis an Mhéara agus le Cathair agus Condae San Francisco as áilleacht Halla na Cathrach. Is mór an chreidiúint daoibh an halla álainn, maorga, grástúil seo.
Mayor Brown, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I’d like to start by thanking Mayor Brown, Assemblyman Kevin Shelly, and Supervisor Gavin Newsom for their kind words of welcome. It is a great pleasure, as President of Ireland, to be with you here today. Let me congratulate the Mayor and the City and County of San Francisco on the beauty of the restored and retrofitted City Hall - it is indeed magnificent, and truly representative of a city of grace and style like San Francisco.
Few cities in the world capture and hold the imagination and memory of people in the way that San Francisco does. It is a source of pride to us that successive generations of Irish emigrants came here and contributed so much to building the life and fabric of this great city. From the building trades, where the Irish are still strongly represented, through to law enforcement, the professions, business and politics, Irish emigrants and their sons and daughters contributed greatly to their new home. Today we would like to think that San Francisco’s reputation as a city of culture, tolerance, openness and opportunity owes something to the contribution of the Irish. I know that for me coming here almost thirty years ago to work for the summer during my student days, it was the cultural vibrancy of this city - its space for the diversity of all God's creation, its joy in that diversity, which opened my mind to a world very different from the fearfilled Belfast I had left behind and returned to. Here Mormon and Catholic Irish, Italian and Afro-American, heterosexual, homosexual worked together, helped each other, struggled their way to a fresh understanding of the intrinsic uniqueness of each human person and their entitlement to respect. Its a vision I have carried with me since those days and for which I owe this city a special debt. It was here in this city of the famous bridge that I first saw clearly what humankind can aspire to when we build bridges of decency and respect to each other. That theme of building bridges is the theme of my Presidency. Its roots are in this city.
Todays Ireland is vastly different from the Ireland of my student days.
Today Ireland enjoys unprecedented economic success. The new economy based on high technology and the information superhighway has played a central role in this economic transformation. Ireland is now emerging as the e-commerce centre for Europe and has become an important financial services centre, as Ireland is now part of the Euro - the European single currency. These are all industries that I understand are also important to San Francisco today. The ties between Ireland and San Francisco and the Bay Area provide an excellent basis to develop further the trade and investment opportunities between us. Ladies and Gentlemen, Ireland’s economic growth and cultural confidence has made it an exciting and hopeful place to be, but we are enjoying them at a time when we are also most fortunate to be presented with the greatest opportunity that we have ever known to bring about a just and lasting peace.
The Good Friday Agreement undoubtedly marks an historic breakthrough in the history of our country, holding out, as it does, the prospect of a future where the people of Ireland can overcome the tragic divisions of our past and dedicate ourselves to building a future together based on partnership, equality, reconciliation and tolerance. It was a remarkable achievement and, rightly, it brought with it great joy and hope.
And while considerable progress has been made in many areas, securing its full implementation was always going to be a slow and difficult task. Inevitably, perhaps, there have been difficulties and disappointments along the way. We have not yet reached a position where the political parties in Northern Ireland have sufficient trust and confidence in each other to see the institutions provided for under the Agreement come into being.
I am, however, neither despairing nor despondent. I remain fully convinced that the people of Ireland want the Agreement to succeed. They have overwhelmingly endorsed all that it has to offer them and, most of all, they recognise that the compromise and accommodation it entails are necessary if we are to see the new society we all dream of come into being.
As we meet, our politicians are working very hard to reach agreement on a way in which all can take the Agreement forward together. In their endeavours they are most fortunate to have the skill, wisdom and judgement of Senator George Mitchell to assist them once again. I know that you will join me in wishing them every success.
Through all of the ups and downs of the peace process we have greatly appreciated the enormous support, encouragement and love which we have received from all the friends of Ireland here in the United States. From President Bill Clinton, who could not have done more to help, to Senator Mitchell, without whom the Agreement would not have been reached, to the extended Irish family here who have helped in ways too numerous to mention - your continued commitment to the cause of peace and justice in Ireland has, and will continue to sustain us in our difficult journey. On behalf of the people of Ireland, I would like to express our deep thanks and appreciation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In view of Ireland’s long association with San Francisco, and the contribution the Irish have made to this great city, I am truly honoured by your welcome today.
Tá dlúth-cheangal, le fada fada an lá, idir tír na hÉireann agus San Francisco, agus ní beag an pháirt a ghlac na Gaeil i bhfás agus i bhforbairt na cathrach seo. Ar an chúis sin is mór on onóir dom gur chuir sibh fáilte chomh croíúil romhamsa, ionadaí na hÉireann, anseo inniu.
Thank you.