REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO HAMMERSMITH IRISH CULTURAL CENTRE MONDAY, 1ST MARCH 2010
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO HAMMERSMITH IRISH CULTURAL CENTRE MONDAY, 1ST MARCH 2010
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Is mór an onóir agus pléisúir dom bheith anseo inniu. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom.
It is a pleasure to be back in the Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre at the invitation this time of a man I know well, your Chairman, my cousin Jim O’Hara. Jim like all of you loves this place and is incredibly proud of all that happens under this roof. It’s a place of welcome for people of all backgrounds, and not just any sort of welcome but an Irish welcome for this place draws its identity and its life blood from the Irish heritage of countless economic emigrants who made London their home but for whom Ireland was always their homeland.
They found comfort, friendship and support in this Centre and many others. They shared here the gift of their Irish heritage with their new neighbours, colleagues and friends and here too they introduced their children and grandchildren to the rich veins of Irish culture which had shaped their values, history and their character. So not only did they bring to Britain the gift of their lives and their work but the gift of Ireland’s sport, music, dance, song, literature, history and drama to new audiences. The new generations, born in Britain, have grown up not just with a vague pride in their family's Irish roots and identity but with important opportunities to access that identity, to see it showcased and to be part of it. For one of the great assets Ireland has today is a scattered family that can comfortably call itself Irish/British,
Irish American, Irish Australian and which can be a big part of what it is to be Irish in today’s complex world.
George Bernard Shaw believed that without the arts "the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." Perhaps that explains the love the Irish have for culture and why we enjoy such a vibrant cultural life for God knows Ireland faced many a crude and unbearable reality over the centuries. Yet we never lost our joy in life and so everywhere I go I find people of great commitment, like here in Hammersmith doing everything they can to keep the flame of Irish culture and arts burning. It is a huge credit to everyone involved with the Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre that its name is legendary for the sheer range and reach of its activities. Young and old they come here knowing they will both give and receive here. They bring the gift of friendship and receive it in return. They meet new Irish, old Irish, first, second, third, fourth generation Irish and they meet neighbours who have come from other countries other cultures and who, like the Irish, know what it is like to be strangers in a new land and how essential it is for our wellbeing and integration that there are places and people to welcome us, to make space for us and above all to make time for us.
These things make me incredibly proud, all the more so since I know that you do none of this for recognition or thanks, but I hope you feel encouraged by the Irish Government’s substantial financial support and the high regard in which you are held by the Irish Ambassador and his staff. Ultimately they know and we know that this place would not exist without your commitment and sustained effort. There are so many volunteers who work to make this place really buzz with loads of life. There are professional staff who work so devotedly on behalf of the Irish Community in London. Thanks to each of you for doing a wonderful job of care for one another and care for Irish culture which by your efforts has become such an integral part of life not just in Ireland but in Britain. Through your efforts Irish culture is renewed, refreshed and developed in new directions and the Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre is one of the important tributaries that flows into the wells we draw on wherever we are in the world and wherever we call ourselves the Irish.
Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl agaibh anseo. Gura fada buan sibh ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.