REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY Mc-ALEESE AT ST. ISIDORE’S, ROME SATURDAY, 2ND JUNE, 2007
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY Mc-ALEESE AT ST. ISIDORE’S, ROME SATURDAY, 2ND JUNE, 2007
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá an-áthas bheith i bhur measc ag an am seo, san áit seo.
Fr. Vicar General, Minister Provincial, Fr. Brennan, Fr. Piscitelli, Ambassadors, friends,
I am very honoured to share this meal at St. Isidore’s in your company, in this historic place where so many others have, over generations shared food and lives against a backdrop of history’s turbulent drama.
The very name of St. Isidore’s brings us deep into Ireland’s own centuries old turmoil with the names of Luke Wadding, of the O’Neills and O’Donnells holding us in thrall even after all these years.
Long before Ireland had Ambassadors we had the Irish Colleges and we had St. Isidore’s - effectively Ireland in exile at times and certainly the nerve centre from which the name of Ireland was comprehensively written into European History. We owe this house and those who lived here so much that can never be repaid. What was worked for here and prayed for has come to pass. Ireland comes into her own, prosperous, confident, as at home in Brussels as Boston, her political, economic and cultural dynamism in part fuelled by a remarkable global Irish family which has transcended the grimness of emigration and powered its way into every sphere of life around the world. It is a harsh kind of irony that just as that Ireland has arrived, St Isidore’s and the Franciscan Friars find themselves in a world of harsh choices and dwindling resources.
You should know that you are also the authors of a job well done and in the Irish Government and people you have friends and debtors. We got the chance to repay some of that debt in helping to fund the refurbishment of the Library and perhaps in the future we will find other ways to keep the partnership between St. Isidore’s and Ireland alive and vibrant. In any event I am confident that the Irish heritage of this place will continue to be honoured as a vital and treasured ingredient in our national patrimony.
May I thank the Friars for all that has been done for Ireland and Europe out of this house. And on behalf of Martin and me and all of us, may I wish you well as you contemplate the road ahead.
Go raibh maith agaibh. Thank you.