REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE WASHINGTON IRELAND PROGRAMME CLASS OF 2009 GRADUATION CEREMONY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE WASHINGTON IRELAND PROGRAMME CLASS OF 2009 GRADUATION CEREMONY AND 15TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá an-áthas orm a bheith libh tráthnóna inniu don chomóradh an-speisialta seo. This evening we have a double cause for celebration. We not only mark the graduation of thirty one outstanding young people as the Class of 2009 but we also celebrate the fifteenth Anniversary of the Washington Ireland Programme itself. I would like to thank Kevin Sullivan for the kind invitation to join you here for this, the first graduation ceremony to be held in Dublin and I congratulate all of the participants on your achievement. The old Irish saying tells us ‘bíonn siúleach, scéalach, the traveller has many tales, and I bet you each have a great story to tell from your experiences in WIP.
The Washington Ireland Programme has made a unique contribution to preparing a new generation for roles of leadership, active citizenship and public service on the island of Ireland and in developing and energising the relationships between this island and the United States. You, the Class of 2009, represent all the universities on this island and some in Britain and a fascinating range of disciplines from arts, law, business and journalism, to optometry, medicine and dentistry so you can discuss the gamut from treaties to teeth. And not alone is this a group of high academic achievers but a group of all-rounders with impressive interests in the worlds of voluntary work, sports and leisure activities. So you are a particularly interesting bunch of individuals and the very diversity that each one of you brings makes for yet another unique and dynamic WIP class. Strong as you are as individuals, through WIP you will also learn the truth of the old Irish saying tells us, ní neart go cur le chéile - that it is only by working together we find our truest strength.
And we surely need to work together especially in these times of unprecedented change and uncertainty both globally and here in Ireland. In the case of this island, despite current difficulties, we have a remarkable story to tell of a once poor underachieving and conflict-ridden country which thanks to the best educated generation in its history, turned that story around, constructed a true and generous peace and made this one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Education has proved its worth in these opening chapters of this new story for this island. The current pages tell of financial ambition and property-driven entrepreneurialism that stretched itself too and there are sobering lessons to be learnt which will inform the next chapters of our story. We have considerable strengths for you are part of the youngest and most globalised population in Europe. At this important juncture in your careers, WIP helps you to focus on what your personal and shared service and leadership can bring to the world around you. Some 400 third-level students have participated in the programme over the last fifteen years and individually and collectively they are an important civic resource.
The prestigious internships in Washington have opened them up to the wider world, have helped construct networks of friendship and interests that will last a lifetime and importantly imbued participants with a strong sense of duty to get the best from themselves and to give the best of themselves.
The French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said “if you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” WIP teaches its participants to long for a better, fairer world and to make themselves agents of the changes that can bring that world about. In this generation we have tasted peace and tasted prosperity in ways unimaginable to any previous generation. We now know that some though certainly not all of our prosperity was built on shaky ground but now we need to restore prosperity, put hope and opportunity back into peoples’ lives and sustain the peace that is our great gift to the future. This is where you come in. The tolerance and understanding fostered by WIP will be a key element of filling in “the centuries’ arrears” in this, the first post-conflict generation on our island. Caring and courageous leadership is required in the aftermath of conflict and through the skills learned in WIP, you will be some of the champions of that hard-won peace, working towards a safer, happier, reconciled society on our island. Imagining and building a better future requires vision and courage. Your shoulders will also be needed to turn the wheels of prosperity once more and to ensure that they turn safely and for the many. As global citizens in 2009, you also have a role to play in shaping the entire world for the better. It was Catherine of Siena who said “if you are what you should be, you can set the whole world on fire.”
As we celebrate tonight the graduates of the fifteenth WIP class, I also want to thank all those who made this journey possible: the host families, those with whom you did your internships and Kevin Sullivan, Megan Farrell, Breidge Gadd, Patrick McDermott, Jonathan Chesney, and all involved in WIP including former staff Paul Costello and Ryan Moffett. I want most especially to thank each programme participant here this evening. The success of WIP depends on you and I hope you will be motivated to draw on and transform the richness of your experiences so that you will be true and inspirational leaders in your chosen spheres throughout this island. It is by the achievements of its graduates that the programme’s success will ultimately be judged. Will you be content to watch as history marches by your door? Or will you answer the call to lead in your own sphere and to play your part in making the centuries-old dream of peace and prosperity on this island, in this world a living and lasting reality? In the words of our dear and sadly missed friend Senator Edward Kennedy, “The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.” Comhghairdeachas arís agus guím gach rath ar bhur saothar.