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SPEECH BY PRESIDENT AT THE MEETING WITH CANADA-IRELAND INTER-PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUP

SPEECH BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE MEETING WITH CANADA-IRELAND INTER-PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUP, MONDAY 5 OCTOBER 1998

I am delighted to join you today on the first State visit of an Irish President to Canada, a country which has so many close links with Ireland – and I look forward to developing further the already excellent relations between us.

The establishment last March of the Canada-Ireland Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group is an indication that Irish Canadian relations have taken a new turn. The need for such an initiative arose because of the many diverse matters on the international agenda clamouring for the attention of Ministers and Parliamentarians – and because of the risk, however small, that old friendships might be taken for granted or pushed aside - unless, of course, we take care to remind ourselves that old friends are best. That is the essential purpose of this group. As Polonius said: “The friends thou has and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel.”

The remit of the group - to promote exchanges between Irish and Canadian parliamentarians and to work to develop co-operation between our two countries is one to which the Irish Government and Irish parliamentarians subscribe with equal enthusiasm. At the very first event organized by the Group - the commemoration of the 130th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas D’Arcy McGee last May - the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage were present and spoke. My congratulations to your first President, Mr. Pat O’Brien, your Vice-Presidents, Monique Guay and Senator Eugene Whelan, and to the other members of your Board of Directors who have successfully managed the exercise of launching the group.

The Canadian economy is one of the wealthiest in the world and what is even more important - as the annual UN figures show - the quality of life here is the highest of any country in the world. The Irish economy – which started from a much lower base in the post-War period - saw a turning point in economic policy and performance in 1987, with the conclusion of the first national agreements on income and employment. In the ten years since then, the Irish economy has seen considerable economic reform and development.

Sustained economic growth throughout the 1990's has led to a very high level of job creation, a sharp reduction in the numbers of unemployed people, a surplus in current government financing, and a rise in the real living standards of the population. In only ten years, private consumption per capita has gone from 65% of the EU average to 90%.

This unprecedented growth has also been reflected in our economic relations with Canada. Trade between Ireland and Canada has almost trebled in ten years, and Ireland ranks only after the US and Britain as a destination for Canadian investment. Today there are some 25 Canadian companies operating in Ireland, including names like Alcan, Nortel, Westinghouse and Dominion Textile, and employing about 1,700 people in manufacturing. Canadian banking and financial concerns also base much of their European activity in Ireland, principally in Dublin – and in recent years there has been an increase in Irish investment in Canada, taking advantage of Canada’s position as a gateway to the whole NAFTA area.

There are many factors which have led to this advance. Successive Irish governments have managed public finances in a careful and restrained manner. A series of national agreements based on social partnership have led to moderation in wage increases, even during a period of economic boom – and EU structural funds have been wisely used for long term capital investment in infrastructure, leading to sustained and sustainable growth. Above all, perhaps, decades of investment in Ireland’s greatest resource, her people, is now bearing fruit. The maintenance of a high quality education system, at a very high cost during a period of rapid population growth, has given Ireland a particular advantage in attracting the new high tech industries on which the economies of tomorrow will be based.

It is probably the case that the period of steady economic growth which we have experienced in recent years has helped to produce a climate of opinion in which it was easier to deal with some of the intractable political problems which history has bequeathed to us. As you know, on Good Friday of this year - after a protracted period of lengthy and detailed negotiations, stretching over many years - the British and Irish governments and the political parties in Northern Ireland reached an agreement which was subsequently endorsed by all the people of Ireland in separate referendums held on the same day in both North and South. The Agreement provides a balanced institutional framework within which political dialogue and mutual accommodation can take place, thereby making it possible to achieve a new and harmonious relationship between all the people of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain. As parliamentarians, you will understand the significance of a massive popular mandate.

I would like to thank successive Canadian Governments and the Canadian people for the steadfast support they have given to our efforts to address the problem of Northern Ireland over the years. Canada was one of the founding members of the International Fund for Ireland - and through your support for the work of the Fund, you have helped to promote economic and social advance, particularly in those areas of both parts of Ireland which suffered most severely from the consequences of instability in the past. By this means you helped to encourage contact, dialogue, and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists throughout Ireland.

Almost three years ago, when the peace talks seemed to have hit a roadblock, we turned to some of our closest friends abroad to help us to find a way forward. Canada made available to us General John de Chastelain as one of a three-member International Body, which also included Senator George Mitchell and the former Finnish Prime Minister, Mr. Harry Holkeri. They not only came up with a viable solution, but they were invited by the two governments to maintain their involvement in Irish affairs and to become the International Chairmen of the peace talks. I should say to you how much we appreciate the patience, wisdom, and skill of your former Chief of Staff. We thank you for making him available to us – and I am happy to say that he continues to serve the cause of peace as Chairman of the arms Decommissioning Body.

Many of you here today have Irish antecedents. The Irish were one of the founding peoples of Canada, and they have played a major role in shaping the development of this country. In a Canadian context, and under blue Canadian skies, the Irish of all traditions learned to resolve their differences by democratic and political means, and to focus, often together, on addressing the problems and challenges of their country of adoption.

Canada has achieved considerable respect for its role in world affairs. I believe that the constant negotiations in which you engage to resolve your internal problems have equipped you to an unusual degree with the diplomatic skills which are needed on the larger stage. Ireland is pleased to be working closely with you at the present time on the so-called human security problems, in respect to which your Foreign Minister, Mr. Lloyd Axworthy, has taken a leading role. His counterpart on the Irish side, our Foreign Minister, Mr. David Andrews, is with me here today. I should also say that Foreign Minister Andrews was the Irish Government’s Representative at the peace talks which led to the Belfast Agreement.

I know that the President of your Group, Mr. Pat O'Brien MP, paid a visit to Ireland in May this year and met with our Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms. Liz O'Donnell TD. And I am also aware that Prime Minister Chretien has signalled that you should arrange a visit of the members of the Group to Ireland – and that a visit by a corresponding Oireachtas Irish Parliamentary group to Canada is scheduled to take place in due course.

I wish you every success with these plans – which should serve to strengthen the ties between our parliaments and peoples - and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you today.