REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OPENING OF THE “PETALS OF HOPE: RAYS OF LIGHT” EXHIBITION
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OPENING OF THE “PETALS OF HOPE: RAYS OF LIGHT” EXHIBITION, ILAC CENTRE
A Chairde
Is onóir dom bheith i láthair inniu ag an ocáid seo agus tá mé buíoch díbh as an chuireadh.
It is a great honour to open this moving and inspiring exhibition. I would like to thank Omagh District Council for inviting me to come here today. My thanks also to Philip Maguire from Dublin Corporation for his words of welcome.
Visiting Omagh in the wake of the bomb last August, it would have been impossible to imagine that something as beautiful and dignified as the work we see here today could ever have been created from a deed as hate-filled and ugly. It is a remarkable achievement and Carole Kane, and all of those from the schools, colleges and youth groups in Omagh, Strabane and Buncrana that worked with her, deserve our deepest praise and our warmest thanks.
The bomb in Omagh was designed to destroy more than lives and buildings – although it did both. It was designed to destroy hopes and dreams. To destroy the opportunity for a new beginning the Good Friday Agreement offered to all of the people of Ireland. To destroy the good relations which both communities in Omagh enjoyed together.
Those who planted it sought to ensure that there could be no escape from the tragic and bitter certainties of our past unless it was on terms dictated by a tiny minority still wedded to violence. They sought to release their toxin of hatred to poison a new generation. They were prepared to ignore and overrule the clear wish of the people of Ireland to build a future together in partnership and peace. They were willing to see further pain inflicted, rather than a process of healing begun.
In the face of such evil, the response of the people of Omagh was brave and heartening. I saw for myself how, far from being pushed apart, people pulled together. Rather than allowing hatred and division to take root, they worked to create space in which peace and reconciliation could grow.
The flowers that arrived in Omagh from all over the world were not only a tribute to those who lost their lives, not just an expression of solidarity with those who were injured or those who had lost their loved ones. They were a symbol of resistance, a rejection in the strongest possible terms of all that the bombers of Omagh stood for. Today, we stand with the people of Omagh in that resistance, in their refusal to allow hatred and violence to take hold once again on this island.
The thousands of flowers, and the hundreds of books of condolence signed by over two million people, were indeed petals of hope and rays of light. Hope for a better future. Light to banish the long dark years of violence and division. The spirit behind them lives on in the artworks that make up this exhibition.
In gathering the flowers so carefully; in turning them into paper decorated with petals, leaves and stems; in creating with loving care the works large and small that make up this exhibition, Carole and those who worked so successfully with her have created a lasting and a fitting memorial to the victims of the bomb. A memorial that sits well beside the work of John McKinney and the Omagh Fund which has done, and which continues to do, so much good work.
Each piece in this exhibition is, I know, dedicated to the families who lost loved ones. Many among those who worked on the artworks were the friends and families of the victims. I know that their pain is great, but I hope that in some small way the work will have contributed towards their healing.
The Good Friday Agreement rightly recognised the deep and profoundly regrettable legacy of the suffering of our past. In framing their proposals the two Governments and the political parties agreed that it was important that we never forget those who have died or have been injured and their families. But they also suggested that the best way to honour them was through firmly dedicating ourselves to the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust.
Reconciliation after so much heartache and pain will not be easily achieved. But exhibitions such as this, and the spirit that lies behind it, make an enormous contribution to bringing true understanding and reconciliation between all of our people that much closer. This is a work of redemption – reclaiming the territory of the heart colonised by hatred and showing once again the enduring, the unstoppable power of love.
I would like to thank John McKinney and Omagh District Council for bringing this exhibition to Dublin, for enabling us to share in this symbol of hope.
Gúim Rath Dia oraibh sa todhchaí.