REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION IN VALETTA, MALTA FRIDAY, 6TH OCTOBER, 2006
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION IN VALETTA, MALTA FRIDAY, 6TH OCTOBER, 2006
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen
F'dawn l-ahhar jumejn, tghallimt hafna dwar Malta. Rajt hafna postijiet interessanti u esperjenzajt l-ospitalita kbira tal-President u tal-poplu Malti.
Over these past two packed days, Martin and I have been bombarded with fascinating images and experiences of this beautiful island. We have experienced the warmest hospitality from the President and people of Malta. As our visit draws to a close, this is our opportunity, Mr. President, to extend to you the traditional Irish céad míle fáilte – one hundred thousand welcomes this evening to show our appreciation for the generous welcome shown to Martin and to me throughout our visit.
This is also a very important opportunity to meet members of Malta’s Irish community and their families and friends. You are the people whose lives link our two islands in the most tangible of ways for you bring Ireland to the heart of Maltese life and it is thanks to you that those of us who arrive as strangers can feel so instantly at home.
For all that our two countries are located at opposite peripheries of Europe, Ireland and Malta have long been friends to one another and now, of course, we are partners together in the European Union. Our futures are now firmly linked and we have much to, look forward to together. Many people have invested in growing the firm bond of friendship between us and I particularly acknowledge the important role played over the years by Ireland’s Honorary Consul here, Mr Anthony Cassar.
We see it as an important development that Ireland now has a resident Embassy in Malta and we can be very confident that the two Embassies will be dynamic focal points for Irish/Maltese relationships through which the destinies of Malta’s children and Ireland’s children will become ever more inextricably linked.
The recent European Union enlargement has had a vital human dimension. Since 2004, many people from the ten new EU Member States have come to work in Ireland, including several hundred from Malta. This has given Ireland a rich new network of personal connections, of new and deepened friendships with our European neighbours and much more immediate access to their cultures, languages and talents. Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting the Maltese Embassy in Dublin, meeting with members of the Maltese community in Ireland, welcoming the newcomers among them to Ireland and saying how privileged we feel to have them living in Ireland as a vibrant part of contemporary Irish life.
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, as full European partners, Ireland and Malta have never been closer. Our old friendship now has a fresh new focus and the strong ambition for a shared future. I hope that through this visit our two countries and peoples will grow ever more curious about one another and ever more comfortable in each other’s company so that between us we can build peaceful and prosperous homelands for our citizens, a strong and successful European Union and help shape a more equal global homeland for all who share this earth.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh. Grazzi. Thank you.