REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE MARKING THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF FORMER PRESIDENT CHILDERS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE MARKING THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF FORMER PRESIDENT ERSKINE CHILDERS
Is onóir dom bheith i láthair inniu ag an ócáid seo, chun saol agus bás Erskine Childers a choinneáil i gcuimhne.
It is a great privilege for me to be asked here to join in the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the death of Dr Erskine Childers. He was a man who combined towering integrity and ability with a very real sense of compassion and social justice, a man who brought honour to the many offices he held in Government over a political career of more than 35 years, and who, as President of Ireland, upheld that office with great distinction while never losing touch with the people who elected him. The affection and respect he commanded is an enduring tribute to the many wonderful qualities he brought to both his public and private life.
The recent death of former Taoiseach Jack Lynch and the many deserved tributes which poured in from every side, reminded us of how many of those qualities applied equally to Erskine Childers - a gentle and unassuming manner, great personal warmth and hospitality, exceptional integrity and selflessness and an outstanding sense of public service. Indeed it was Jack Lynch himself, in a foreword to Erskine Childers' biography, who pointed out that he was also a great mould-breaker and pioneer. As Minister for Transport and Power in the 1960’s, he appointed the first ever woman head of a civil service Department, Thekla Beere. His unwavering commitment to the underprivileged and excluded in our society demonstrated his deep sense of compassion, his capacity to imagine a more decent, hope-filled world, and to work untiringly to bring that about. He brought those same qualities to his period as Minister for Health, a subject in which he had a life-long interest. Nothing he did was done for personal notice, or gratitude. Much of what he accomplished was accomplished quietly without fanfare. In today’s world of easy, quick soundbites, the contribution of people like Erskine Childers can be too easily eclipsed or forgotten. We owe him a huge debt of thanks for the integrity of his political life. He moved, of course, beyond politics into the Presidency and it is as our Fourth President that he will be best remembered and was most loved. During his 17 months in office, he welcomed to Ireland political leaders from around the world with a facility that marked him as both knowledgeable and gracious, easing the emergence of our nation into the international arena in those crucial early years of membership of the EU. He rubbed shoulders easily with national leaders of all parties and was equally at home with the public who elected him. He encouraged new ideas ranging from agriculture to music with an enthusiasm and energy that inspired all around him.
In these days of hope for Northern Ireland, we remember with gratitude the role that Erskine Childers played in laying the foundations for that peace, of building bridges between the different traditions and cultures on these islands. Like his father, he was both born and educated in England but he became one of Ireland’s most cherished sons. His whole life exemplified a capacity to leave behind old emnities, to overcome the bitterness of the past, the toxin of hatred that has scared the history of these two islands. It has been said that when his father was under sentence of execution, he made his young son promise not to seek revenge, but rather to seek out and shake the hands of those who had carried out the execution, as he himself did on the morning he faced the firing squad. Those qualities of reconciliation, of utter integrity, selflessness and clear-sighted vision, were ones which Erskine Childers inherited and enhanced throughout his career. They did not die with him but helped seedbed a new future which is only now coming into its own.
His death left a void both in political life and of course in the lives of his widow, Rita, his family and many friends. Today, 25 years on, we remember him with affection and gratitude, as a person who made an inestimable contribution to public life in Ireland. I am honoured to have this opportunity to add my own tribute to this great man, and Statesman, Erskine Childers.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.