REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY IRELAND SOCIETY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY IRELAND SOCIETY, KING’S GREAT HALL, CAMBRIDGE
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dia dhíbh go léir. Is ócáid an speisialta í seo agus tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo inniu agus í a cheiliúradh libh. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an fáilte a thug sibh dom agus do m’fhear chéile, Máirtín.
It is good to be here with you in King’s College to officially launch the Cambridge University Ireland Society. Here in this Great Hall any of us could be forgiven for allowing minds to wander to the past and the history lived within and without these walls. Five hundred and sixty four years have passed since the young Henry VI laid the foundation stone of The King’s College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge on Passion Sunday, 1441. We know he wanted to build a College without equal in magnificence in either Oxford or Cambridge and this college was to admit seventy scholars each year from poorer backgrounds. We know too that although his generous vision was realised he himself did not live to see its completion. Today a generation with a real focus on the future gathers to add a new imprint to the history of Cambridge with the creation of this society - part of their vision for tomorrow’s Cambridge.
This Society is the gift of a confident generation of young Irish men and women, proud of their identity, heritage and culture, anxious to share it with their alma mater and to honour that great Irish tradition of community by creating a network of support and friendship that is open to all and welcoming of all.
It is in this hallowed hall that the Society meets for weekly cómhra as gaeilge chun fadhbanna an domhain a cheartú tríd an teanga dúchasach, gan bacadh leis an áit breithe nó an greim teanga atá acu ach chun taitneamh a bhaint as labhairt le chéile as Gaeilge (discussions in Irish to solve the problems of the world through the language of our heritage, with no regard to place of birth or proficiency in the language - just to enjoy chatting together in Irish). And of course this young society which has already made its mark on University life has a broad vision and ambition to promote the cultures of Ireland through language, literature, visual arts, music, the performing arts and sport in that respectful spirit of inclusiveness and encouragement of mutual understanding so long elusive, so greatly needed.
Cambridge has had its litany of distinguished Irish graduates down through the centuries, not least among them my predecessor as President of Ireland, the much loved Erskine Childers. I am proud to walk the ground he walked, the ground Parnell walked, and Seamus Deane, this year’s Parnell Fellow and a graduate of Cambridge; the landscape of the great classical scholar and Gaelic enthusiast Seoirse Mac Tomáis who brought to world attention the rich literary tradition of the Blasket islands; the familiar territory of sister Belfast woman and distinguished scientist Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell. And Cambridge shares our memories of the late great Mick Doyle, a Cambridge Rugby Blue, who coached Ireland to Triple Crown success in 1985. That store of memories has been complemented in recent years by the growth of Gaelic sports and their attractiveness to students of all nationalities. Under the leadership of Brendan McCann and ladies football founder Aveen Kelly, I can see big days ahead in the British Universities League. Adh mór fosta in your plans to introduce hurling, a game I know her Majesty the Queen has a very high regard for having discussed it with her on the road to the Irish Peace Tower in Messines a number of years ago, where she astounded me with her knowledge of hurling and its first cousin Scottish shinty.
It is important to remember that this Society is not the first society here at Cambridge to celebrate ‘Irishness’. Back in the 1950s the Hibernian Society played a similar role and I know Dr. Hal Dixon who is here with us today was a member of that Society just as today he is a supporter of this one. Indeed there has been much support from the academic staff here for this new Society, not least from the Provost, Judith Mayhew Jonas through making King’s College facilities available to the Society; Professor Eamonn Duffy for supporting and helping to establish the Society last year, and Professor Máire Ní Mhaonaigh and the faculty of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic for their support and assistance.
Before I finish I would like to applaud the work of Rós Ní Dhubháin, President of the Cambridge University Ireland Society for the effort and enthusiasm she has put into the establishment and development of the Society over the past year, an enthusiasm, I who have known her since her birth know she brings to all things in life. We thank you Rós, and Conor MacDonough as President-elect, for all the work you have both put into arranging today’s reception and for inviting me to become Honorary Patron. May you bring the face and voice, the heart and hands, the colour and tone, the values and virtues of Irish culture to the heart of life here and may you enhance the quality and texture and memory of University life for all the University community. It really is a joy to declare the Cambridge University Ireland Society officially open.
Comhghairdeas libh arís ar an ocáid speisialta seo. Go n-éirí go geal libh. Go raibh míle, míle maith agaibh.