REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE LORD MAYOR OF NEWCASTLE
I would like to thank Councillor Margaret Richardson Carter, Lord Mayor for her kind words of welcome and for inviting me to this splendid Mansion House this evening.
Travelling around the city in the course of the day, I have been struck particularly by the elegant presence of the bridges over the Tyne. The earliest name for Newcastle, Pons Aelius, I believe refers to a bridge leading to a fort beside Hadrian’s Wall. Clearly Newcastle’s destiny has always been linked with bridges. This holds a particular interest for me as someone who chose ‘building bridges’ for the theme of my presidency.
The bridges over the Tyne are great feats of engineering. Wrought with tons of metal, they dominate the steep riverside. I wanted to build bridges between the divided communities on the island of Ireland, to build bridges that would be enduring links between the past and present, between the old and the young, between those at the centre and those on the margins, between the Irish at home and abroad and between these two neighbouring but not always neighbourly islands.
It is good to be in a place which knows a thing or two about bridges and about change, about regeneration, about boldly stepping into the future but looking back with pride to the past.
Like Ireland I know Newcastle has faced colossal change in recent years and your City Council has borne considerable responsibility for navigating that change comfortably and effectively. You have stewardship of a wonderful wealth of historical buildings but of course each generation is entitled to add the mark of its own unique genius. Getting the balance right between both has, I am sure, given you many a headache or challenge as we call them today! But with a legacy like that of Earl Gray whose Reform Act of 1832 laid the foundations of participatory democracy this region has never been afraid of change. Your Grainger Town Project has been immensely successful and I have been captivated by the frequently encountered and intriguing pieces of public art. Each one speaks in its own way of a very vibrant city, confident in itself, comfortable with diversity.
I am proud of the fact that many Irish feature in the story of Tyneside, not least among them the current Leader of the Council and Lady Mayoress. From the Tyneside Irish Brigade of volunteers in World War 1, to the valiant Irish members of the Newcastle United and Sunderland Football Clubs, from the many contemporary Irish visitors and the countless Irish emigrants who made their homes here generation after generation, there is a web which intimately connects us to each other across the Irish Sea. Long may we regard each other as friends and long may this city, home to so many Irish and their good neighbours, prosper and flourish.
Thank you.