REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEFENCE FORCES LEGAL SERVICE CLUB
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE FOUNDING OF THE DEFENCE FORCES LEGAL SERVICE CLUB
Dia dhíbh a chairde, tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur measc anseo ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom.
This night has a lot to commend it. As Commander in Chief, I am among colleagues. As a lawyer, I am among friends and as a resident of this part of Dublin, I am visiting the neighbours. So I offer a warm thank you to His Honour Judge John D. O’Hagan for the invitation to join this Golden Jubilee celebration of the Defence Forces Legal Service Club. By coincidence my very first introduction to the Defence Forces was through its legal services when over twenty-five years ago I attended a court martial as a radio journalist. I was impressed then by the tribunal, its officials and rigorous procedures, and particularly impressed by the efforts made to accommodate and communicate with the members of the Press who were of course an important conduit to the public.
So although Groucho Marx is reputed to have remarked that “military justice is to justice, what military music is to music” my familiarity with both military justice and music allows me to claim that remark as a compliment. The Defence Forces Legal Service operates in an uncommon and highly specialised military legal environment which to some extent appears ringfenced from the world of day to day civil and criminal law but which nonetheless operates entirely in the service of our State and our Constitution. It is no surprise to find at work in the service, and at this golden jubilee gathering, both military and civilian lawyers for the relationship is one of fluent friendship and collaboration between both spheres.
In many ways when one thinks of the Defence Forces, the image of a lawyer is not the first to spring to mind but the Legal Service is a vital part of the internal architecture of the operation, discipline and administration of the Defence Forces. Quietly, unobtrusively but relentlessly its influence and impact is both local and global, from within the barrack walls of McKee to the Legal Advisors from the Defence Forces Legal Service drawn from the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service who have deployed in recent years to Chad, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and of course Lebanon. The people of Ireland hold a place of special pride in their hearts for Ireland’s peacekeepers whose reputation around the world is second to none. We are rightly proud of the work they do, the way they do it and the values they bring to it. Fundamental to those values is the dignity of the individual, the human rights of each person encountered and their entitlement to the protections offered by international law. Your expertise in human rights and international humanitarian law makes you a crucial part of the professional formation of all those members of the Defence Forces who represent our country abroad for it is in the interaction between them and local civilian populations that our credentials as a people of integrity are tested. You do the job so well that your skills and wisdom are much in demand from prestigious educational institutions both nationally and internationally.
In the 50 years since the Minister for Defence approved of the formation of the then Cumann Seirbhis Dli an Airm (Army Legal Service Club) many different Irelands have come and gone and so too have many of the people who gave the Service its character. The spirt and personality of each one, alive or on sli na firinne is woven into the chapters that make up these fifty years and I am sure there will be many reminiscences, stirred memories and renewed friendships around these tables tonight as well as more than a little sadness at absent friends. I’m sure you’ll all join me in sending our best wishes to founding member Lt Col Maurice Shanahan who unfortunately can’t be with us this evening.
1960 was a vintage year – it gave us this club, Bono, Brian Cowen and Elvis Presley’s “Are you lonesome tonight” - the song that marked the end of his military career. It is remembered for the advent of RTE, the last days of the barges on the Grand Canal, Freddie Boland’s election as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations and that great day of joy in Ireland when John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected President of the United States. By a terrible coincidence on that same day came the dreadful news that nine Irish soldiers had been killed in the Congo. Those who founded the Club knew that their collegiality and collaboration would be a source of resilient strength in tough times and energy in better times. They had no way of knowing when times would be good or bad. They had to be prepared for all events and they were. More importantly they had to ensure that the Defence Forces Legal Service was first class no matter what came or went, and they did. We gather in celebration and in gratitude for those here and absent who invested part of their lives in making the law and the military their vocation and whose collaboration over fifty years was an investment in our country’s well being that unlike some others, has always produced the best dividends. I won’t rehearse a litany of names but will leave it to you who knew them best to call them to mind in conversation and honoured memory here tonight.
60’s Ireland was a watershed decade. It ended with the introduction of free second level education and the massive surge into third level that unlocked so much of our once wasted potential. Many young people found their way into our Defence Forces and our legal profession and some into both at the same time. They became part of a confident internationalised and achieving Ireland which today, despite the recession and its despondency, is still one of the world’s success stories. An important chapter in that story is the unique, courageous and utterly committed peace-keeping role played by the Defence Forces of a small militarily neutral state in a world which still divides too easily into warring sides. Their high standards of professionalism and humanity are legendary. The advice, support and wisdom of the members of the Defence Forces Legal Service Club has been an important pillar these fifty years. To each of you I offer the thanks you are long overdue and the best wishes for the next fifty years. Comhghairdeas libh arís ar an ocáid speisialta agus stairiúil seo. Go n-éirí go geal libh ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.