REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT LUNCH HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF SURREY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT LUNCH HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF SURREY
Your Royal Highness, Vice-Chancellor, Ambassador, Ladies and Gentlemen
Tá lúcháir mhór orm bheith anseo libh inniu. Is cúis mhór áthais agus bróid dom bronnadh an chéim oinigh seo.
I have just come from St Mary’s College, Strawberry Hill. That enjoyable occasion gave me a glimpse of part of the diverse life of the University of Surrey and now I am privileged to be here in the heart of the University opening a window on another part of its life.
In Ireland the nature of the President’s role prevents me, mercifully, from having policies - but not from having a theme. I chose at my inauguration the theme of building bridges. I am conscious that one of my hosts here today, Vice-Chancellor Patrick Dowling, is a bridge-builder in the more literal sense. I am struck by this happy coincidence, in particular this week which has seen at last, the bridging in Northern Ireland of chasms some thought were unbridgeable. So often bridges open up landscapes hitherto inaccessible, making contact and travel easier, introducing strangers to each other. Just as this week’s historic progress on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement offers the rich potential of access to a new, uncharted landscape where respect and partnership will replace the old contempts and divisions of the past.
Among the benefits that new landscape promises is a mature, comfortable and collegial relationship between Britain and Ireland. We have had a confused and confusing shared history, and yet for all that we enjoy a strong, multifaceted and complex relationship which grows healthier day by day.
In the economic sphere our very similar business culture and healthy bilateral trade have ensured that our two countries enjoy a significant volume of mutual trade, investment and tourism. Britain is Ireland’s largest trading partner and Ireland is Britain’s fifth largest export customer. We are your fourth largest source of tourists visiting Britain; you in turn are our largest source of visitors. All of these facts point to a broad-based economic interdependence which is the natural product of our intertwined history and geographic proximity.
A large Irish community is distributed the length and breadth of this island. This is their home. Indeed, it is estimated that up to six million people in Britain can claim Irish ancestry, a legacy from those days when a poor Ireland’s biggest export was her people. Today an economically successful Ireland is, remarkably, experiencing a net immigration of people from Britain. Many Irish people in Britain see themselves as being both part of the extended Irish family and also an integral part of British society. Today we see no contradiction in carrying parallel identities for we know that the richness of each complements, challenges and develops the other, spurring on a natural and spontaneous process of creativity and growth.
In the political sphere, the two Governments have worked very closely and with great delicacy in relation to Northern Ireland. That co-operation has fostered many strong relationships of trust and mutual respect at all levels, their reach now much wider than their original starting point. The historic developments we witnessed yesterday in Northern Ireland involve a new set of important institutions, among them the British/Irish Council. As an institution devoted to nurturing a fresh and dynamic new relationship between our two neighbouring islands, it will be a crucial part of the infrastructure supporting and sustaining the peace process. It is important to remind ourselves that we are engaged - all of us - in a process of softening hearts and minds, eradicating old contempts and looking at each other through respectful, maybe even joyfully curious eyes, rather than the cynical and disdainful eyes of the past.
I hope that the Council will quickly evolve into an effective and exciting forum through which we will get to know each other better, deal collaboratively with common problems, promote a culture of partnership and co-operation.
We start from a good base. In the cultural field, access to a common language allows us to enjoy each other’s literature, drama, cinema, music, radio, television and visual arts. It has facilitated an easy exchange of academics and students between Irish and British Universities, and I am conscious that in this room today there are a number of Irish-educated academics who now work and contribute to the excellent reputation of the University of Surrey. It has also led to much fascinating academic research in the field of cultural studies and other related fields, including, of course, the work that is done in the Centre for Irish Studies in St Mary’s College in Strawberry Hill.
Heterogeneity, diversity, is the lifeblood of a university’s intellectual, scholarly and community life. It is the source of energy which keeps it questioning, keeps it curious, keeps it fascinating. It is a pleasure to be in a place where fidelity to that unique university mission is a deep-rooted ethic.
Today’s ceremony is a new piece in the jigsaw of the British-Irish relationship. We gathered as strangers but leave as friends with a new set of shared memories and binding links. You picked your moment well to build a bridge of generosity to this Irish President and I feel deeply honoured and privileged by your care for my country and your strong witness to the responsibility we each have to create a causeway to a world very different from the one we have come from. In this act of friendship and kindness lie the seeds to something we know intuitively but have historically found so hard to put into practice - that a hand held out to another is the simplest, the most effective, the most humanly decent bridge any one of us can build.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir as ucht an onóir seo. Gúim rath agus séan oraibh san am atá le teacht.