REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND MARY McALEESE AT ST PAUL CATHOLIC SCHOOL, TORONTO
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND MARY McALEESE AT ST PAUL CATHOLIC SCHOOL, TORONTO THURSDAY, JUNE 21ST 2007
Archbishop Collins, Archbishop Finley, Principal White, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.
Martin and I are delighted to be with you here today. We thank you all most sincerely, especially the children, for the beautiful welcome you have extended to us.
It is a great pleasure to be in St Paul’s Parish, the oldest Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Toronto. I have been told that the church and school are located in an area with long-standing links to the Irish community which makes my visit today all the more memorable.
Later on today, I will officially open Ireland Park, which will stand as a monument to the generosity shown by the people of Toronto towards the famine-stricken Irish emigrants of 1847.
Those of you familiar with Irish history will know that, beginning in 1845 and lasting for five terrible years, Ireland suffered a devastating famine when the potato crop failed. It is estimated that about one million people died as a result of hunger and disease which over the ensuing decade caused nearly two million people to leave Ireland.
In 1847, at a time when the fledgling city of Toronto had a population of just 20,000, ships carrying almost twice that number, fleeing the famine, passed through the port of Toronto. Their horrific journey across the Atlantic exacted a terrible toll on a people already enfeebled by hunger and disease, and eleven hundred of these poor souls died, a fortunate few among them having benefited from the care of the generous citizens of Toronto whose own resources were scarce indeed. Of those who perished, the remains of 757 were discovered in the area where we gather today.
Death did not discriminate between denominations and when I leave you this morning, I shall be going to St James’ Cemetery to view the graves of 305 Protestant victims of the Famine who are buried there.
Among those who died were Bishop Thomas Power, the first Catholic Bishop of Toronto whose home was St Paul’s, and George Grasset, the Chief Medical Officer at the emigrant hospital, and the younger brother of the then Anglican Bishop of Toronto.
Of those who survived their journey, most moved on to the United States, but some two thousand remained here in Toronto and the surrounding areas, where they made their home. They found work clearing forests to establish farms, digging canals, building roads and cutting timber, forging new lives from the ashes of their old ones.
The Ireland Park Memorial will be a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives in 1847. Equally, however, it will honour the people who extended the hand of friendship to their brother man in his time of greatest need - the Toronto authorities, the churches, and of course also the ordinary people of the city, made extraordinary by their selfless acts of generosity. Like its sister memorial on Grosse Île, Ireland Park will be an enduring monument to the steadfast ties of friendship that bind our two countries.
As President I visit many schools in my travels throughout Ireland and abroad. As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, St Paul’s School was originally founded in an area where Irish Catholics settled. With changing demographics, it is now, your principal, Mr [Barry] White, informs me, home to more than thirty plus different nationalities. So too is today’s Ireland! The school is also actively involved in the community, providing day care, mother and toddler rooms and a free breakfast for the pupils. I commend everyone involved in these invaluable activities, who by their work are ensuring that every child is given the best possible start in life in those crucial first years.
Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a pleasure to be with you here today and once again thank you for your warm welcome.