STATE VISIT TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL
STATE VISIT TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, a chairde,
Jsem velmi ráda, ■e jsem v Česke republice a v srdci Evropy.
(I am very pleased to be in the Czech Repulic and in the heart of Europe).
I am especially delighted to have been invited by the Institute of International Relations to address this distinguished gathering in Prague today. I would like to pay tribute to the work of the Institute, under its able Director, for providing this crucial debating forum for exploration of the many live issues in contemporary international relations and foreign policy.
This is the first State visit of an Irish President to the Czech Republic and I am privileged to return the visit which President Havel paid to Ireland in 1996, an occasion which provided the Irish people with the opportunity to pay tribute to an outstanding world thinker and statesman. It also provided President Havel with an opportunity to remind the Irish people that: “The Czech lands were part of the territory on the continent that was the original home of the Celts, it was from there that the Celts came to Ireland.” So you could say this Celt has come home and indeed I have been made to feel very much at home here.
It would be difficult to visit the Cernin Palace without recalling Jan Masaryk, who was also given a warm welcome in Dublin when he visited Ireland a few short years before his tragic death here in this building. It is not without irony that the Warsaw Pact, a symbol of the totalitarianism which Masaryk tried to resist, was dismantled in this very hall.
My visit here also coincides with commemorations of the tenth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. For too long the voices of the Czech people were muffled under the dominance of a greater political power “the false Godot” of Communism, as President Havel has called it, in imagery taken from the Irish playwright, Samuel Beckett.
The people of both our countries have been the victims of history, held hostage whether by the blunt instruments of ideological communism or elitist, self-righteous imperialism. They skewed and twisted the histories of our people; they damaged the lives our people lived. But nothing stays the same. As Cardinal John Newman said “to be human is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often.”
Both our countries have changed, are changing dramatically.
One of Ireland’s lesser known but very fine poets WR Rodgers puts it this way in his poem “Resurrection” "that is how things always happen, lousily. But later on, the heart edits them out lovingly Abstracts the jeers and jags, imports a plan Into the pain and calls it history….”
The Irish and the Czech peoples do not have far to stretch to touch the pain of history. It is the remembrance of that pain which drives many of us to take the risks of faith, to make the compromises which allow us to craft a fresh new future, a more humanly decent future for our peoples. No matter what the price there were always those who from generation to generation held to a view of humanity in which the wonder and majesty of the human person would triumph over the dark, leprous side. They had a vision strong enough to outpace the antivision of cynicism, the bleak counsel of despair.
Since the establishment of the Czech Republic in 1993, your politicians have been faced with a mammoth task in guiding the country into a new political order. Dismantling one pervasive system and constructing a new one in its place is an awesome task as we in Ireland know only too well. Our own painstaking attempts in Northern Ireland to replace a centuries old culture of conflict with a culture of consensus keep us humble for we know how hard it is to soften hearts, to make friends of enemies, to motivate a confused and dispirited people, to forge partnerships in places where there is little trust.
We have observed with close interest the manner in which you have sought to move your country to a new thinking and experiential landscape. We know that the remaining challenges may at times seem insuperable; expectations sometimes run way ahead of what is realisable; people can grow scared of too much change, so scared they seem to prefer paralysis. Yet we also know that these are precisely the characteristic difficulties encountered in any transition as profound as the transition you are managing. It is all the more important therefore to acknowledge as I do here the real and gratifying progress already made by the Czech Republic and to express every confidence that your continuing efforts will be marked by success.
We in Ireland have great admiration for your courage and your determination to place your country on a firmer basis with the rest of Europe. We know from our own experience just how much sense this makes and what an extraordinary journey it promises. Developments on the European continent are of fundamental importance to the Czech
Republic so it is natural that you should consider binding your country more closely into the various institutions, including the EU, which are so intimately involved in the life of our continent and its future.
The title of my address is “Europe: Widening the Family Circle” and, I believe, this is a fair representation of my country’s attitude to the present EU enlargement negotiations. Your country lies at the heart of Europe, your history and culture have always been a rich part of our common European heritage but now we welcome the prospect of your destiny running in tandem with ours by widening the family circle of the European Union to include the Czech Republic.
To characterize the European Union as a family is not a fanciful metaphor. It provides I hope at least part of the answer to the question President Havel posed in Trinity College, Dublin when he asked “…has this admirable European construction its transcendental idea?”.
The family metaphor acknowledges a relationship, a covenant which goes well beyond simple contract. It speaks of bonds of kinship which go deeper than mere history or geography. It acknowledges that there are very different personalities and perspectives accommodated under a shared roof; there is the remarkable energy which is harnessed when a united family focuses on a common destiny; there is the cruel memory of a dysfunctional family which once not so long ago tore itself apart in the horror of a bloody war.
Today however, this family that is the European Union has scrambled up a fast learning curve. It is justifiably proud of the way it copes collegially, consensually with the inevitable disagreements which arise out of its complex web of relationships. That is just as it should be in a family of equals. It is not and never could be a family of clones. It is a family of highly colourful individuals, their personalities differentiated, a kaleidoscope of contrasts, but each committed to building a shared, an interdependent future.
How else do we explain its amazing journey from those unlikely post-war days when only dreamers thought it possible to construct a Europe of partners out of a Europe of bitter enemies? The European Union has faced many hard decisions, days when the cooperative spirit has been tested, even sorely tested but reassuringly, ultimately vindicated. As we move forward, it is vital that the EU remains faithful to this sense of family and common purpose while maintaining space for the evolving singular identity of each individual member state. So yes, the European Union has its transcendent idea but that idea needs champions, protectors, developers to ensure its continued place as our common centre of gravity. Another good reason to favour the Czech voice at the European table.
Neither Ireland nor the EU can offer a quick fix to many of the challenges that the Czech Republic must itself face as it negotiates accession to the Union. Nor is one country’s journey necessarily the pathway of another. However, I know that as you embark on this historic journey the story of my country’s accession to the EU and its remarkable consequences will be worth sharing with you.
This country and Ireland started the 20th century with very different stories. Here in the territory that is the Czech Republic was one of the most sophisticated, most economically developed parts of Europe. In Ireland you would have found one of the least. At the time of our independence from Britain in 1922 we were a poor agricultural country with a weak economy, drained by years of conflict and traumatised by the bitter legacy of a civil war. We lacked national self-confidence. Our biggest export was our own people, as generation after generation sought opportunity outside of Ireland.
Fundamental change came with the seed-bedding in the 1960’s of an education system which allowed us to catch the wind of the second industrial revolution and positioned us brilliantly for the coming technological revolution. Indeed a former President, Paddy Hillery, then a member of
Government, is one of the unsung heroes of that farseeing investment which has allowed Ireland to become the Silicon valley of Europe. He was also of course instrumental in our joining what was then the European Economic Community in 1973, a decision which was the key to today’s economic success and the surge of cultural confidence which has transformed modern Ireland.
Prior to 1973, Ireland’s economy was underdeveloped with a significant reliance on traditional industries and dependence on bilateral trade with Britain to sustain our exports. Since accession Ireland has become one of the most open economies in the EU. Per capita, Ireland is now the third biggest exporter in the world. While agriculture remains of key importance to us, more than 90% of what we now export is non-agricultural produce. Today Ireland is the world’s second largest exporter of computer software, after only the United States - not bad for a population of under four million people. The Single European Market has been, and continues to be, of enormous benefit to our economic growth and is a crucial driver in our economic success.
Membership of the European Union has also made Ireland an attractive place for foreign capital, which has been an essential ingredient in the development of our economy and in the generation of employment. The share of employment accounted for by foreign-owned firms in Ireland, at over 44%, greatly exceeds that of other European countries. Three areas - electronics and engineering, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, and services – dominate this sector. A consistently high return on investment, a stable political system, a well educated English-speaking workforce and access to the EU market are among the key factors which have helped attract foreign investors to Ireland.
While Ireland’s recent economic success is undoubtedly
linked to membership of the EU and the substantial financial transfers which helped us develop a modern infrastructure, the Irish Government and people have done much on their own initiative to improve the economic situation. In particular, the establishment of an effective partnership or social contract involving the Government, employers and trade unions has been of considerable importance in creating a financially sound, highly competitive and stable economic environment. The social partners deserve great credit for today’s success story.
Today the scourge of emigration has been replaced by the phenomenon of net inward migration. Unemployment has decreased dramatically over the last five years to under 6% and continues to fall. All the indications are that Ireland will continue to enjoy the very high growth rates of recent years which have made it one of the fastest growing economies in the OECD. That is the economic success story in brief but it does not tell anything like the whole story.
At a broad political level, the shape of much of Irish public policy has been profoundly affected by EU membership. Equal pay legislation, environmental protection policy, consumer protection law, competition law, health and safety statutes - the list goes on - all have been influenced by decisions taken by Ireland and her partners at European level. The role of women in particular has altered beyond recognition offering to the individual woman the prospect of wider participation in all aspects of civic life and offering to the country a huge reservoir of talent left untapped and trapped for too long.
There is too the psychological level, the level of the spirit, for undoubtedly membership of the EU has enhanced Irish people’s perceptions of what it is to be Irish. Hand in hand with the economic success has come a cultural renaissance, a glowing fresh sense of identity, a welcome maturity in our relationship with the “old enemy” Great Britain, a confident engagement with the nations of the world, a reinvigorated relationship with our 70 million strong diaspora scattered across every continent, a purposive self-belief in the genius of our people both at home and abroad and a realisable future to look forward to which promises prosperity to our people and the opportunity to put an end at last to poverty.
In the debate which preceded our entry to the European Union there were many who feared that our small island nation which had struggled so hard for its independence would find its interests and its very identity overwhelmed, maybe even obliterated by our larger European neighbours.
Those fears we now know were groundless. The European Union has provided an ideal showcase for Ireland economically, politically, socially and culturally. Through our membership we have made an important contribution to the affairs of Europe and on the wider international stage. We have shown that small countries can punch way above their weight, they can make a contribution, they can make a difference. We now have a quarter of a century of membership behind us and we acknowledge that if Ireland today looks forward to a new century with great optimism, it is to a significant extent because of the progress that we have made since accession and the confidence that we derive from EU membership.
It is a source of pride to us that Ireland is among the first tranche of member States which is forging ahead with the common currency, the EURO, probably the most exciting common venture since the Treaty of Rome. We believe that EMU will strengthen the European economy and single market, foster investment, increase business competitiveness and benefit consumers.
The next big adventure is, of course, the enlargement which we hope will bring the Czech Republic among others into the Union family. Enlargement will reorder the boundaries of the Union, reshaping and stretching our perspectives once again. The Czech Republic will bring to the EU its own rich cultural identity, its own set of memories and stories, its own genius and all of us in the EU will be the better for having opened our embrace wider still. Your entry will make you no less Czech just as ours made us no less Irish but our common citizenship of Europe offers our two small countries a unique opportunity to exercise our sovereignty in partnership with the nations whose home is also this continent.
This partnership approach is especially important in the case of smaller countries. Membership has given Ireland the means and opportunity to influence the evolution of the European Union and its policies, both internal and external. This was evident, for example, during Ireland’s
Presidency of the EU in 1990, during discussions concerning the unification of Germany. In 1996, our EU Presidency and Chairmanship of the Inter-Governmental Conference which resulted in the Amsterdam Treaty, once again allowed us to play a key role at an important stage of the Union’s evolution. In external matters, too, we have found that participation in fora such as the Common Foreign and Security Policy, (CFSP) permits us to speak with a stronger voice on the world stage than would be possible on our own.
This is of special importance in relation to human rights, which is a very important component of our approach to global issues.
The European Union and its member States recognize the importance which the EU has played and must continue to play in preserving peace and stability, economic and social development, in and between the countries and peoples of Europe and beyond. In adopting the Copenhagen criteria as the determining factor for membership of the European Union, it gave recognition to the core values on which the EU was founded: democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, civil society and individual freedom and dignity. At a time when these values remain so cruelly violated in so many parts of the world, both close to home and further afield, the EU has a right and a responsibility to provide leadership in seeking to extend the areas of the world in which these values can become a reality. The voice of one country which articulates those values is of course important, but how much more important and effective, a chorus of such voices.
I believe that President Havel put the case for Europe very well when he spoke in Trinity College, Dublin in June 1996 and I would like to quote his words. He said:
“I truly believe that Europe has a mission. In my opinion, it is called upon to become, through the pattern of its own being, the embodiment of the kind of responsibility for the world that is essential to its salvation. I am not implying that Europe alone will save the world. I am saying that we should start with ourselves. This does not require that we devise any new ideologies. All it takes is to rededicate ourselves to the authentic meaning and content of the spiritual wealth that Europe has created in the course of its history”.
This spiritual wealth which Europe has created in the course of its history provides the family of Europe with the common ground, the depth of understanding between the people of our countries and between those whom we elect as leaders, which will permit Europe to develop and fulfil its mission. Europe in this century has seen enough of war and so much of the damage which poorly constructed ideologies can cause. We have had all the lessons we need in the things which build us up humanly and the things which destroy us. We know that we must find a better way than we did in the past. We also know it is not rocket science we are engaged in here, it is very simple and very human - we are building a family home and a family business to secure a peaceful and prosperous future for Europe’s children.
The entire process of European integration bears witness to the fact that peace and cooperation can supplant age-old rivalries. History has shown, both in our own case and that of other entrants into the Union, that nations have joined the European project in order to draw strength from its collective ideals, its economic coherence, and its democratic dynamic. But what draws them in is the powerful attraction of its core idea.
I understand that there are many fears associated with the new post-communist world, a world which may seem to shift and change at will. We in Ireland have experienced a similar anxiety over the last three decades or so. But we cannot let the future be held back by those who hold onto the past with the grip of a drowning man. The late John
Hewitt, one of Northern Ireland’s best poets described Ireland once as a place where “the past persists in every knuckle and sinew… the future can find no crevice to enter by…” That was then, this is now and the future is flourishing. It has found the crevice to enter by, it has confounded the doubters. For us the European Union was and is that future. Our hope is that it will be also for you, the crevice through which a remarkable future will enter the Czech Republic. We know that on the day you join us in the European family, the European Union will have entered upon another incredible chapter in its journey towards the idea, the hope of human perfection.
I thank you for allowing me to address you and for your attention to my remarks. Let me conclude by wishing the Czech Republic every success on the road to EU membership. I can affirm our willingness to offer you all assistance possible in your accession preparations.
Vá■eni hosté, dámy a pánové,
Irsko se těší na rozšířenou Evropskou Unii, která bude
zahrnovat Českou republiku. Děkuji Vám.
(Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Ireland looks forward to the newly expanded European Union which includes the Czech Republic. Thank You)