REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE AMBASSADOR OF IRELAND
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE AMBASSADOR OF IRELAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM, AUCKLAND
Ambassador Ó Fainín, Distinguished Guests, Kia Ora, Fáilte.
I am delighted to join you here this evening in this beautiful city and on behalf of the entire delegation; I'd like to thank you for that very warm welcome. It is great to be in the company of so many people who are the very spirit and character, the soul and the sense of Ireland here in Auckland.
Ireland has had many champions in this part of the world to whom we owe a debt of thanks and it is good to be able to say thank you to them in person especially to Nell Delaney for all she has done for the Irish community here in Auckland over the years. Back in 1948 Nell was there to meet Eamon De Valera when he landed here on his round-the-world tour to gather support for a campaign to end the partition of Ireland.
Sixty years later and I bring good news of a different Ireland, a place of peace, prosperity and partnership, where the best chapter yet in our island’s complex history is being written.
South of the border mass emigration and high unemployment have disappeared and instead Ireland is now a land of considerable opportunity that attracts migrants from around the world. It is the outstanding economic success story of the European Union. In Northern Ireland once bitter enemies are now working together in government. Political relations between Dublin and Belfast and between Dublin and Westminster have never been better. The conflict is over and though there is still much healing and reconciling to do, there is a palpable and growing mood of optimism and good neighbourliness taking root across the island. We are grateful to our friends in New Zealand for the many ways in which you have supported the peace process your help and encouragement have meant the world to us and just as we are very proud of you, I hope this new Ireland in turn makes you proud too.
My visit here this week coincides with the launch of an exciting musical bridge between Maori and Irish music. You have just had a taste of the project known as Green Fire Islands. They will be touring New Zealand in the coming months showcasing the two great traditions and putting on them both, the creative imprint of a new generation. Their thrilling centrepiece concert will be here in Auckland, on St Patrick’s Day next year. On that day the global Irish family gathers with its friends in every corner of the globe from Auckland to Aughrim from Dublin to Dubai and no matter how many the miles in between, we feel and we assert our shared identity, our sense of family, our connectedness through time to our heritage and across the world to one another.
The story of modern New Zealand cannot be told without telling of the Irish who came here. From the earliest colonial days, aboard the Adventure and the Resolute with Captain Cook, Irishmen and women have been intimately involved in every aspect of New Zealand life and many achieved prominence in politics, religion, education, the arts and sport.
The contribution of so many distinguished Irish people and people of Irish extraction to New Zealand is a consequence of the sad fact that Ireland was for many years a country of emigration. We are proud of the achievements of the global Irish family, but it is a source of enduring regret that so many thousands were forced to leave Ireland over many generations. We acknowledge and are grateful for the honour which you brought to the name of Ireland by your achievements here. We owe you a debt of gratitude which can never properly be repaid.
We are committed to the continued wellbeing of our Irish Family around the globe, however, and as part of a programme which will be extended to other New Zealand societies, the Minister for Foreign Affairs recently announced funding for the development by Auckland Irish Welfare of a community network for Irish citizens in New Zealand to provide advice and assistance to members of the Irish community who may be in need. Although you are many miles away, you are never distant in our thoughts, and this is a tangible expression of our care for you.
As my visit draws to a close, I am struck by how much our two countries share in common and how much we have to offer each other. Technology has displaced the tyranny of distance, and now, as never before, we have an opportunity to capitalise on the phenomenal synergy our two island nations can generate. I know that all of you here this evening will play a full part in that process, and I look forward to its onward journey, its next chapter.