REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE RECEPTION HOSTED BY ARMAGH CITY AND DISTRICT COUNCIL
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE RECEPTION HOSTED BY ARMAGH CITY AND DISTRICT COUNCIL WEDNESDAY, 23RD JUNE, 1999
It is a great pleasure to visit the historic City of Armagh today and I would particularly like to thank Mayor Tom Canavan, and his colleagues on Armagh Council for the generous and warm welcome they have extended to me during my visit.
Armagh is, of course, a city with a proud and ancient history. But it is also, clearly, a city very much looking to the future. During my visit today, I have been greatly struck by the obvious buzz about the place – a tribute to the excellent tourism and economic projects which you have succeeded in putting in place.
These developments could not have come about without the sterling efforts of Armagh Council in demonstrating that it is possible for both communities to work together in partnership for mutual benefit. The excellent working relationships on the Council stand as an example to everyone.
I know that this approach has also informed the key role which the Council has played in the Irish Central Border Network. There is no doubt that border areas, North and South, suffered disproportionately throughout the long dark years of conflict. In working the common ground with other Councils, in a dynamic and proactive way, Armagh is making an enormous contribution to the building of the new society which we all hope will be brought about by a lasting peace.
The Armagh contribution is also strongly to the fore in the Offices of the First and Deputy First Ministers. Let me pay tribute to the work and leadership of David Trimble and Séamus Mallon. They, and the other political leaders, carry our prayers and best wishes for the crucial coming days.
Armagh’s commitment to partnership has also made it a front-runner to become the home of the new North/South Ministerial Council which I would hope to see coming into being, along with other institutions under the Agreement, in the very near future.
Increased North/South cooperation will bring real and practical benefits to communities on both sides of the border and not only in the field of economic development. It will, I am certain, also make a major contribution to increased social interaction and understanding between all of the people of this island. It is only one example of how much we all stand to gain as the Good Friday Agreement is implemented.
And there is no doubt that significant progress has been made towards that end in a little over a year. But as we set out on this long and difficult journey, we were all very much aware that implementing the Agreement was never going to be an easy task, that we would, inevitably, encounter difficulties along the way.
Our political leaders are now facing into a most sensitive time where they will have to grapple with serious and difficult issues to find a way forward together. As they do so, we should remember that it has always been difficult to be a political leader in Northern Ireland. There are always those who prefer the certainties of the past to the challenges of the future, and who stand ready to denounce as a sell-out any attempt to find compromise or to build consensus.
It is greatly to the credit of the politicians who came together in Belfast on Good Friday of last year that they managed to place their trust in each others’ hands and offer the people of Ireland a vision of a future which was not simply a recreation of the past.
And it is a vision which people the length and breadth of the island have reached out for and embraced. They want to see an end to conflict. They want to build a future together based on partnership, equality, mutual respect and peace. They are ready to find a new way of looking at each other and of working together. They have firmly dedicated themselves to the achievement of reconciliation. They are no longer thinking in terms of winners and losers, but of how we can move forward together.
And just as it took courage, vision and leadership to conclude the Agreement last year, it will take flexibility and a willingness to compromise to find a way forward through our present difficulties. It will take a genuine effort to build trust and confidence in each others’ good intentions. It will be hard, and there will be political risks to be taken.
But, they are risks well worth taking. There can be no doubt that the prize within our grasp is great. The consequences of allowing it to slip through our fingers are, surely, too appalling to contemplate.
While the outstanding differences between the parties are indeed serious and significant, I remain hopeful that, with determination and goodwill all round, they can be successfully overcome. The people of Armagh, like all of the people of the island of Ireland, deserve no less.
May I thank Mayor Canavan once again for his considerate hospitality and say go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir, sa chathair álainn seo, Árd Mhaca.