SPEECH BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE TO THE APOSTLES OF IRELAND OF TORONTO ON 6 OCTOBER 1998
SPEECH BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE TO THE APOSTLES OF IRELAND OF TORONTO ON 6 OCTOBER 1998
I am delighted to meet and talk to the Apostles of Ireland of Toronto during my first state visit to Canada. This is a country that is home to many millions of people of Irish descent. It is a country in which Irish influence is palpable. It can be seen in the great memorials on Grosse Isle and Partridge Island. It can be heard in the accents of the Atlantic Provinces, and in the Canadian Celtic Music. It is reflected in social and political institutions which have influenced as much or more by the conservative loyalties of Irish Protestants, as by the republican views of Irish Catholics.
In many ways the Apostles’ goals aim at building bridges between your members who were born into different backgrounds in Ireland mirrors what we in Ireland have been striving for in recent years. As part of this remit, you have been generous and welcoming hosts to visiting Ministers from Ireland and Britain, and political representatives from all shades of opinion in Ireland.
This noble tradition of reaching out to fellow Irish men from what was perceived as the “other” tradition dates back to the 1830s. While the intra-Irish relationship in Canada was not always without ranker, the Canadian tradition of respect for freedom and for the individual allowed Orange and Green to reach out and gain a greater understanding of the “other”.
Your horizons are however wider than the shores of Canada, and I know how deeply you care about Northern Ireland. I can assure you this afternoon that those courageous women and men who negotiated the Good Friday Agreement, and the people who endorsed it, will not be deflected from the historic opportunity of implementing it. We will build together and we will achieve peace and prosperity for all those living on the island of Ireland.
The Agreement must and will lead to peace and prosperity - not just for the negative reason that there is no going back to the savagery and slaughter, as most recently witnessed at Omagh. The Good Friday Agreement will work because it is an unprecedented historic opportunity which for the first time creates a level playing field where everyone is considered as first class citizens - where it is just as respectable to be a Nationalist as a Unionist - and where Nationalists can feel that their rights and aspirations have equal validity and equal respect and recognition to those of Unionists. In short, the Agreement rectifies an imbalance, it does not create new ones. We understand the past too well to want to recreate and relive. The Good Friday Agreement puts the evils of the past behind us and creates a framework for a new era of relations between the people in Ireland and between Ireland and Britain.
It is, therefore, perhaps fitting that this year the Irish people, at home and abroad, have been commemorating the events of 1798. In 1798 it appeared that the expressed ideals of the American and French Revolutions would be implemented in Ireland. The United Irishmen, had a vision of a non-sectarian, democratic and inclusive society, which would have legitimacy and the allegiance of all Irish people. The hopes for the future that flowered in the 1790s did not come to fruition then. After 1798 and subsequent economic, social and political developments, the majority of Catholics and Protestants took different paths. The Good Friday Agreement, 200 years later, in many ways is a rebirth of and acceptance, by all sides, of these noble and pluralistic ideals. The people throughout Ireland have, by their overwhelming support for the Agreement, in referenda North and South, seized this opportunity to build a better future.
The peace, political and social stability which the Good Friday Agreement creates a solid foundation on which to consolidate and develop further the outstanding recent achievements made in the Irish economy for the whole island. As I have travelled across Canada, I have been able to speak of the phenomenal growth and development which is now taking place in Ireland. What is happening in economic terms is without precedent in the history of our State. Over the last decade our economy has grown by some 60% in real terms - and unemployment has declined by some 50%. This success is based on low inflation, an environment friendly to job creation, skills based education, and inward investment. We in Ireland are justifiably proud of this economic success but we are not complacent about the future. It was achieved thanks to hard work and hard decisions. It also came through co-operation with and assistance from our friends in Europe and around the world.
Similarly, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded with international encouragement and support. Canada has a long history as a meeting place for people of different traditions. It also has a tradition of conciliation that has become one of the basic characteristics of Canadian public life, and one of Canada’s main contributions to international affairs. People in Ireland greatly appreciate this positive contribution to world affairs.
This afternoon, however, I want to express, in particular, the gratitude of Ireland to Canada for its continued support for the peace process in Ireland. We also appreciate the support of individual Canadians and of all the bodies which do so much to promote Canadian/Irish relations. I wish to conclude this afternoon by paying a special tribute to General John deChastelain, who has contributed so much to the continuing talks process in his capacity as one of the independent co-chairmen. We owe him and Canada a great debt of gratitude.