REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE CONFERRING OF THE FREEDOM OF CORK CITY HALL
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE CONFERRING OF THE FREEDOM OF CORK CITY HALL, CORK TUESDAY, 30th MAY, 2006
Dia dhíbh go léir. Is onóir mór dom bheith i bhur measc inniu ar an ócáíd seo agus tá mé thar a bheith buíoch díbh as an chuireadh agus as an bhfáilte chaoin a chur sibh romham.
Between the Heineken Cup and the Palme D’Or, Cork’s credentials as the “real capital” of Europe, whatever about Ireland, have never been stronger!!! When I gave Sean Og O’Hailpin a distinguished graduate award at his alma mater, DCU, a few weeks ago, he told me disarmingly and seriously that he would next shake my hand in September at Croke Park. It is that “Cork-sureness” so often mistaken by the ignorant as “cocksureness” that is the driving spirit of the people of this city and county. It is also the very attitude, the pose which gives the rest of us not born near “the banks” a lifelong inferiority complex. For most of us that accident of birth over which we had no control, is unalterable, unchangeable. We are destined to go through life apologising for not being from Cork, and being starved spectators at the feast that is Corkness. But for a very small and lucky band, history can be rewritten and today I am privileged to have conferred on me the freedom of this mighty city. Now at least, if I cannot say I was born in Cork, I can say I am a freewoman of the city of Cork, an honorary citizen. When explaining in future that, without my consent, my parents chose Belfast as the city of my birth, I can now say proudly that Cork chose me.
I would like to thank you Lord Mayor, and each and every member of the City Council for this lovely honour which has so gladdened my heart and rectified my deficient c.v. When I looked over the list of those honoured in the past I am delighted to find myself among Presidents Douglas Hyde, Eamon deValera and Mary Robinson as well as two of my own great sporting heroes, Roy Keane and Ireland’s greatest living sportsperson, Sonia O’Sullivan, both of whom of course are Cork through and through.
Cork holds in its soul something that stirs Ireland, something that stirs Irishmen and Irishwomen no matter where they are born and reared. We know that we do not need to be awarded the freedom of the city to feel at home here, to feel part of Ireland’s family here, for this is a city with a fáilte and a freedom of spirit that has kept many a poet busy at his or her craft.
I am so proud to have been written into her roll of honour this day and I’ll let the eloquent words of poet, librarian and Literary Programmer for Cork City of Culture, Tom McCarthy describe the city as she stands today-
No lovelier city than all of this
Cork city, your early morning kiss:
Peeled oranges and white porcelain,
Midsummer Sunday mists
That scatter before breakfast.
The people of Cork, their love of life, their fidelity to their Irish and European heritage and their openness to the stranger makes the honour I am receiving today all the more treasured by me. My many visits to Cork have left me in no doubt about your commitment to working with each other and for each other, for the betterment of this great city, and with wonderful results. Cork’s essence, its willing acceptance of diversity, of change, its characters, its unique soul, its ancient immortal spirit are at its very core – it is a place with personality, with pride, with welcome, with humour, with tradition – no wonder it attracts so many, many visitors. Cork is a place which loves life in all its ups and downs, all its strengths and failings, all its mysteries and revelations. As European Capital of Culture in 2005, it displayed its unique verve and panache, and showcased to great effect its genius and its life. All of Ireland took pride in what you achieved because here was shown the very best of what it is to be Irish.
Cork is blessed in her people, in their ambition for their city and their energy in working for her and for her future. The Local Authority of the Year Award won last year by Cork City Council itself is another telling indicator of the impulse for excellence that infuses so much community endeavour here. I take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you, for all that you do, and do so well and willingly, for and on behalf of Cork and her people. Many’s a time I have sung John FitzGerald’s great song but at last I can sing with a different kind of conviction:
I have roamed through all climates, but none could I see
Like the green hills of Cork and my own lovely Lee.
You’ll be relieved to hear I won’t be back next week with a few Dublin sheep and cows to graze in the Lee Fields. The shock of what they have been missing all these years might be too much for the unfortunate animals . . .
Again, my thanks to the Lord Mayor and all of the members of Cork City Council for bestowing on me Cork’s highest Civic honour.
Is cúis mhór áthais agus bróid dom an onóir seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh arís.
Gurb fada buan sibh.