REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO THE FLAX TRUST ON RECEIPT OF THE “FLAX TRUST OF AMERICA AWARD”
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO THE FLAX TRUST ON RECEIPT OF THE “FLAX TRUST OF AMERICA AWARD” WASHINGTON, MONDAY 15 MAY, 2000
Tá lúcháir mhór orm bheith anseo libh inniu. Is cúis áthais agus bróid dom an bronnadh seo. Mo mhíle buíochas libh.
I am delighted to be here among old friends and new, and I am honoured to have received the Flax Trust of America Award. Among our nations less pretty characteristics is a reputation for begrudgery which usually takes the form of reducing any propensity a successful person may have towards vanity by reminding him or her that – “sure I knew you when you hadn’t a seat in your pants or a shoe on your foot”.
As it happens it works both ways tonight. The founders of the Flax Trust, in particular Father Miles, knew me when I was climbing over the monastery wall in torn trousers and the ‘hand-me-down’ shoes, but then I too remember the Flax Trust when it was a grotty caravan stuck on a derelict building site in the middle of a war-zone surrounded by the telltale signs of poverty and exclusion. Neither of us would wish to unremember those days or to disavow them, for neither of us expected to land up here or in any of the other elevated places life has since taken us. But we know deeply that we are here for and on account of others whose frustrated dreams and hopes we have carried in our hearts and our hopes and our lives. When we remind each other of where we have come from it is not with any hint of that old calloused begrudgery but with delight at what we know and believe to be the miracle of God’s grace working through people to bring hope and healing in place of oppression and fear.
I have been privileged to follow and support the work of the Flax Trust since its inception. I know its struggle. I know its heroes and heroines, its friends and supporters. I have for them a depth of respect that allows me to say that among awards and distinctions I have been blessed to receive, this award is particularly special for me.
No doubt the priests who chased me from the monastery garden and kitchen might have predicted a different kind of outcome for my life, just as many would have predicted a different life for the young, persuasive Fr. Miles, once upon a time. It is unlikely that many predicted how he was to become the scourge of bureaucrats, a man whose name had senior civil servants reaching for the Prozac to steady their hands before writing the cheques that only a short time before, over their dead bodies, would they ever sign. Such, thankfully, is life, its mystery, its great adventure.
At the very heart of the Flax Trust is a message which says that people care about each other, enough to invest time and effort to make life better for those on the margins, for those who think they have been forgotten.
That people in the parish of Ardoyne where the Flax trust first started should care so much about their people and place is itself reassuring and uplifting but perhaps not quite as remarkable as the way in which the work of the Trust has been befriended by and supported by the people gathered here and elsewhere across the United States. That outreach across thousands of miles, to the stranger is such a powerful testimony to the oneness of God’s creation. It is a link we should never ever dare to take for granted because it is freely offered, with no inducement beyond Fr. Miles direct influence over God and the entire Communion of Saints, and all the more valuable precisely because it is not expected, not mandated, simply given out of care, concern, and dare I say it, love.
The rich human connections between our two lands have led to the development of a truly special relationship. That relationship finds expression at the highest political levels, in the White House and in Congress. It helped give us the peace we enjoy and that we look forward to building a new future with. But that very help came out of a generations-old culture which saw wave after wave of Irish emigrants hand carefully to their children and grandchildren an affection for, concern for and responsibility for, the fate of that island so many of them were never to see again. Out of that culture, Ireland was sustained by hard-earned cents and dollars in grim times, out of that culture came a raft of voluntary organisations dedicated to working to improve life for strangers the length and breadth of Ireland. You did not need to do it but we needed you to do it and in doing what you have done and keep on doing, you have transformed our hope, our fortunes and now our destiny. I thank all of you on my own behalf and on behalf of the Irish people whose lives your work has changed.
When the Flax Trust was first set up, to bring peace, as it said, one person at a time, its core values insisted on sharing, on cross community partnership, on creating a resource to benefit all sides and sections, a place where each identity was respected, each felt valued. Located in an area which has experienced the highest incidence of sectarian murders, those values were and remain particularly heroic. They were never, ever compromised even though the store of hurts and hatreds grew daily more intense and the landscape of the world at the Trust’s front door was a landscape of despair, as so-called, enormous Peace Walls kept Catholics and Protestants apart.
The quiet success of the work undertaken by the Trust was borne in upon me when, in the wake of the first ceasefire, it organised a debate on the vexed question of policing among Catholics, republicans and nationalists in Ardoyne. This subject more than any other has the capacity to produce spontaneous combustion where two or more are gathered. Instead we all gathered in private caucus while outside the hall door the Protestant Loyalist women of the Shankill Road cooked our lunch and made our tea. Where else could such a thing happen? We have made great headway since those days though there have been many ups, downs, false dawns, moments of history and histrionics. You have been with us through them all.
Recent days have brought with them encouraging new developments. We now have a clearer picture than ever before of how the Governments and the parties intend the outstanding aspects of the Good Friday Agreement, including the resolution of the question of arms, to be implemented in full. The parties are giving careful consideration to these developments and it is my firm hope and indeed my belief that they will find them an acceptable basis on which to move forward together.
The Good Friday Agreement holds out the promise of a peaceful future built together by all the people of Ireland in partnership together. The old jaded energies wasted on conflict will shortly give way to an energetic partnership focussed on getting the best deal for everyone in Northern Ireland and determined to get on easily and well with its neighbour south of the border. A whole new source of creative energy and endeavour will be released across the island of Ireland and out of it a new future will be crafted, the landscape of thought and deed will be transformed.
Groups like the Flax Trust have played a significant role in pointing the way to this new future. Through tough times they have led the way, demonstrating how, through daily co-operation and interaction, barriers can be eroded and wounds can be healed. It did indeed build the peace one person at a time, recognising that the deeply held human fears and mistrust which prevented friendships from forming across the divide, needed to be addressed directly. Through the Trust, Catholics and Protestants came to see the warmth, the goodness, the humour in each other, they began to listen to each other’s story, to slowly see the world through the eyes of the other and to recognise that each had a role to play, a personal journey to go if the world was to change for the better,
At this time of such enormous potential for the island of Ireland, it is more important than ever that organisations like the Flax Trust continue to work solidly at community level and across communities, tackling and addressing everyday concerns, breaking down prejudices and building a spirit of local responsibility, of ownership, of accountability and of course of that elusive and much needed source of fuel - trust itself. From the beginning you have known its importance, its centrality. Your vision has been vindicated. The future you seedbedded has grown little shoots. They are not as fragile as once they were but like all plants they need your care, your vigilance. I have no doubt you will be there, trusted friends, with us now as the journey starts to get really, really interesting.
Mo bhuíochas libh arís as ucht an onóir seo. Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl agaibh agus guím gach rath air san ám atá le teacht.