REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE CITY HALL AFTER RECEIVING HONORARY CITIZENSHIP OF BALTIMORE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE CITY HALL AFTER RECEIVING HONORARY CITIZENSHIP OF BALTIMORE MONDAY, 15 MAY, 2000
Mr. Mayor, City Councillors, Honoured Guests,
Is mór an onóir agus is mór an pléisiúir dom bheith anseo libh inniu. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as ucht an onóir seo a bhronnadh orm féin agus ar m’fhear céile, Martin.
I want to thank you for bestowing this great honour on my husband Martin and me here in Baltimore today. We feel privileged to mark in this way the connections between this city and Ireland.
Artistotle defines a citizen as one who belongs to a state. I am not sure if that means that henceforth I belong to Baltimore or indeed how that honour sits with my duties as President of Ireland. But I shall do my best to combine both of them equitably!
In fact, I feel a particular affection for this city that took its name from a town in Ireland. That other, and much smaller, Baltimore, in the West of County Cork, is also on the Atlantic and it too is in a fine sheltered bay. But that is only one of our connections. The historians tell us that Baltimore was founded on land that belonged to the O’Carroll family from Ireland and it is said that the town originally had the outline of an Irish harp. There is no doubt that Irish settlers were prominent in building up the trade, educational and civic infrastructure of the city. Many Irish immigrants landed at the port of Baltimore, particularly during and after the Famine period, and it was through their new citizenship of this place that they prospered and it prospered. Here they found opportunities which had eluded them in Ireland, their gifts were given space and opportunity to grow. I am proud to follow in their footsteps and to experience here the warm welcome which makes a friend of a stranger.
On my way here today I noticed that your city is in the midst of reconstruction and regeneration – and not only in terms of your physical infrastructure, but also in relation to the way that you are upskilling your labour force and working to tackle social issues in deprived areas. The greatest resource Baltimore has is the same resource that Ireland has - its people. Every human being whose talents are unlocked, who lives a fulfilled life, makes an enormous contribution to civic society, fuelling the human energy grid we need to be successful as individuals and as a society. Every human being whose talents are wasted or are left untapped, is lost not just to him or herself, but to their families, communities and society. I know you are working to transform the fortunes of both the individual and the community.
That sort of transformation, as we in Ireland know only too well, does not happen by chance. It takes a great deal of vision, commitment and hard work and I am aware that you, Mr. Mayor, and all of the Councillors, have played a key role in this. I congratulate you on this work but I know that my fellow citizens of Baltimore are the ones who really appreciate all that you are doing, and will continue to do, for them.
Mr. Mayor, Councillors,
Thank you for receiving me here today. Thank you for the honour you have bestowed on Martin and on me. We will treasure our citizenship of Baltimore and, hopefully, return one day to Baltimore to claim its full privileges!
Guím rath agus séan ar bhur gcuid oibre. Ár mbuíochas libh arís.