REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT GOVERNMENT LUNCHEON NEUMÜNSTER ABBEY THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER,2009
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT GOVERNMENT LUNCHEON NEUMÜNSTER ABBEY THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER,2009
Här Staatsminister, Exzellenzen, léif Gäscht,
Prime Minister, Excellencies, distinguished guests,
I am delighted to be here with you today in the historic surroundings of the Abbaye de Neumünster.
As I said earlier today when speaking about the European Union, it is difficult to believe that this magnificent cultural centre has been the scene of so much suffering in the past. A former prison and a place of transit for deportees during the Nazi occupation, it has found a new life as a place for artistic expression and healthy debate. I am sure that the Abbey’s former residents, the Benedictine monks who introduced public education in Luxembourg, and taught in three different languages, would delight in the Abbey’s rediscovery of its multicultural vocation.
As impressive as this transformation from a place of imprisonment to a place of cultural freedom and exchange is, Luxembourg has another, even more remarkable experience of resurrecting a phoenix from the flames. Just over half a century ago, from the ruins of post war Europe, inspired by a vision of what the future could be, Luxembourg set about building a Union of neighbours that would consign the horrors of war to the past. It was a giant of an idea for a tiny country, to dare to have such a far-reaching vision. Thirty six years ago, Ireland signed up to that vision. A small island nation on Europe’s westernmost periphery embarked on humankind’s most amazing adventure in transnational democratic partnership.
With the help and support of friends like Luxembourg, Ireland has become a confident actor on the international stage. Our foreign policy has always been informed by a deep and earnest desire for a just and equitable world, and we now have the means to project that policy much further afield than ever before. Our economy, like Luxembourg’s, blossomed in the decades following accession, thanks in large part to access to the single market and financial support for the infrastructure projects that have helped us to attract much foreign investment.
For our part, we have taken an active and constructive role in the Union’s debates, and during our six Presidencies, we have successfully steered the course of the Council and we have passed on the benefit of our experience to the newer Member States. Again, Luxembourg, as the original small state in the big mix, provided an invaluable example to Ireland and to all the other small states that have joined the EU in recent years.
Time and again, Luxembourg has been true to that core EU value of solidarity, and has stood side by side with Ireland in good times and in difficult times. The support which you demonstrated during the uncertain period which followed our first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was particularly appreciated.
It is fitting that I should mention here in this city, the first home of the institutions of Europe, that on 2 October last, the referendum in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty was carried by a two to one majority, with a 67.1% Yes vote. The emphatic nature of the Irish peoples’ decision underlined their commitment to the Treaty and the Union’s future but it also showcased the European Union’s capacity to listen intently and respond positively to the worries of its citizens. It is expected that Ireland will have completed its process of ratification ahead of the European Council meeting to be held in Bruxelles on 29 October.
Our states individually and our Union are surely being put to the test for we face into an array of serious global problems not least the economic crisis which has brought so much fear and misery to this generation. That crisis, like problems to do with global warming, climate change, the spread of democracy, the vindication of human rights, the ending of endemic poverty and disease in the underdeveloped parts of our world, call for our best individual and collective efforts. In Ireland we have an expression, “Ní neart go chur le chéile”: strength only comes when we work together and our efforts coordinated through the EU prove to us time and again the value of that truth.
In Ireland the strength of partnership is already changing the tide of history as the Northern Ireland peace process consolidates and old enmities begin to be replaced with solid trusting relationships. We see now levels of cooperation within Northern Ireland, between North and South and between Ireland and Great Britain which would have been impossible only a short time ago. In the process of persuading people to the levels of change and compromise needed, to put real momentum behind the peace the model of the European Union and Luxembourg’s role in it, was, of course, inspirational. We have been so impressed by your success in so many sectors of business and industry, by the human values which drive your care for Europe and the world, and by your zest for ensuring that the voice of the smallest will be heard. You have been a great friend to Ireland and long may that continue.
I now invite all present to join me in a toast to continued friendship between Ireland and Luxembourg. Op er Gesondheet .