REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT RECEPTION FOR IRISH TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP GROUP ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT RECEPTION FOR IRISH TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP GROUP ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN, WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2008
Good morning everybody. Firstly, may I extend to you all the traditional welcome of the house – céad míle fáilte, a hundred thousand welcomes. I am delighted to welcome you all on this November morning to Áras an Uachtaráin – a house roughly the same age as the United States itself where most of you live. I am always particularly pleased to host here visitors from America. It is a land which has provided a home from home for literally millions of our people going back to the very foundation of the United States and indeed beyond. We can never express too often or too much the debt of gratitude that we owe America for what it has done for, and been to, so many of our people. And the same goes for Irish America, that enormous parish inside our global diaspora that has played such a huge role in the building up of our country, and of peace and reconciliation on our island. I have often spoken of the two hearts of Irish America – one for the land and home left behind, which still beats strong and warm, the other full of pride for the adopted world, a world which it has played such an enormous part in building.
We are reminded poignantly of that duality, that two-heartedness, in this week in which we mark the 45th anniversary of the death of John F Kennedy, a true American patriot and hero, who at all times remained deeply proud and conscious of his Irish roots and heritage. Kennedy’s mark on the United States was enormous and transformational. But it is also the case that he had a huge impact on the land of his forebears, not least through his iconic visit in June 1963. We have all been watching in recent weeks the arrival on the political scene of another transformational figure, Barack Obama. We were quick to claim the Offaly connection, as you no doubt heard, and I take this opportunity to wish President-elect Obama well as he prepares to take up his onerous responsibilities.
The Irish Technology Leadership Group is another great initiative in the Irish American tradition, but one with a 21st century face and manifestation. While the demographic of Irish America is changing and while our economic success in modern times means that our footprint in America is not being renewed in the traditional manner – certainly not on the same scale – the relationship with the United States and with Irish America continues to be vital to Ireland’s interests. We need to be continuing to find new ways to promote those interests in America. You in the ITLG are playing a vital role in that process. While your starting point was Silicon Valley, I know that your mission is a world-wide one, and your aim is to bring together Irish figures not just within Irish America but throughout the global diaspora. For that reason, I see you sitting at the intersection point of several key spaces from Ireland’s point of view – Irish America, the global Irish diaspora, Ireland’s relationship with the US, Ireland’s focus on innovation and the knowledge economy and on pushing itself up the global league table in that regard. It occurs to me that there is an element of ‘back to the future’ in all this – in olden times, Ireland was known as the land of saints and scholars, one feature of which was the saints taking their scholarship and sharing it in other lands around the world!
I wish you God speed with your critically important work. A special thanks to John Hartnett and his colleagues who were involved in the very early conversations on the idea, and to all who have come aboard in the meantime. In these difficult and challenging times that we live in, your energy, drive, ambition and positivity are even more precious. Could I also extend a special word of welcome to Carl Guardino, President of the Silicon Valley Leadership and to former mayor of San Jose, Tom McEnery, whose roots clearly speak for themselves! Thank you for your support. We hope that the visit this week of the ITLG goes extremely well – I know that you have lots of interesting events underway. And remember, as you take forward your vital mission, that you walk on the shoulders and in the footsteps of giants of days gone by, who, if they had the choice between their challenges and ours would take ours any day and with a big, broad smile on their faces at that.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir. Thank you very much.