REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE FAMINE MEMORIAL GARDEN ROSCOMMON TOWN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE FAMINE MEMORIAL GARDEN ROSCOMMON TOWN WEDNESDAY, 25TH AUGUST 1999
Is mór an pléisiúir dom bheith anseo i bhur measc ag an ócáid stairiúil seo. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin.
I am delighted to be here with you today and I would like to thank the Chairman of the Committee, Fr. Francis Beirne, and all of the members, for inviting me to officially open this Famine Memorial Garden.
The landscape of Ireland still bears the physical scars of the greatest disaster of modern Irish history. The countless deserted villages, paupers’ graveyards and former workhouses – such as the one just beside us - provide a constant reminder of the appalling tragedy of the Great Famine. Nowhere is this more true than here in Roscommon, a county which lost more of its people than anywhere in Ireland.
The emotional scars – less visible but even deeper - are there too. It is only in recent years, and especially since the 150th anniversary of ‘Black ‘47’, that we have started to come to terms with the terrible pain of that catastrophic event. Opening this Memorial Garden is an important part of that process. It gives us an opportunity to remember those who died and those who were driven from our shores. It enables us to mourn their loss but also, through that remembrance, to begin the healing process that comes not from burying the pain as we did for so long, but by acknowledging it, speaking of it, commemorating it through projects such as this.
From this distance we see things in a fresh new light. The awful scattering of the Irish to every corner of the earth has now given us a huge global family, many of whom have contributed at the highest level to the countries of their adoption. They have globalised Irish culture, supported us in hard times, been the energy behind our peace process. It is important that the descendants of those who fled the Famine, can come to places like this and take comfort from the fact that we recognise how and why they came to be where they are today. It shows them that the courage and sacrifice of their forbears is remembered and that their own identity as descendants of those who left, is acknowledged and preserved in the land of their ancestors.
I would like to warmly commend the people of Roscommon for generously supporting this important initiative. The members of the Famine Commemoration Committee, under the Chairmanship of Fr. Francis Beirne, deserve particular praise for their energy and commitment in completing this Garden and the sculpture we are unveiling today. I know that you also received generous support from Roscommon County Council and the Western Health Board. I would like to particularly congratulate Fiona Fallon, the deserving overall winner of the Co. Roscommon Famine Memorial Competition.
What you have achieved here is extraordinary. But it also reminds us that there are other, equally important ways of commemorating the Famine in our everyday lives. In many ways, we are a first world country with a third world memory. Our own experience confers on us a responsibility in relation to those who continue to suffer in our world today - people in the Third World whose lives are still scarred by famine and poverty. And closer to home, people who are excluded from the prosperity and hope that Ireland now enjoys. We have a special responsibility towards those who have come to our own shores seeking refuge. This Garden reminds us of how many of our own ancestors were in a similar position in the past – forced to flee their native land in search of refuge, in search of a better life. They often encountered hardship, suspicion, mistrust – but they forged new lives for themselves and their families, enriching the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of their new countries.
That experience of the global Irish family requires us to think carefully about how we respond to those who now need our help. We can close our hearts and minds both to our own history and to the experience of today’s victims of poverty or violence. Or we can respond with understanding and generosity, in the knowledge that our forebears once desperately required the same help – the choice is ours.
I would like to congratulate you all once again on your hard work and commitment in completing this wonderful project.
Mar chríoch, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh go léir as ucht an chuireadh a thabhairt dom teacht anseo inniu. Guím Rath Dé oraibh go léir sna blianta atá romhaibh. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.