ADDRESS BY HER EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT ROBINSON IN REPLY TO HIS MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN
ADDRESS BY HER EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT ROBINSON IN REPLY TO HIS MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN, AT THE STATE DINNER ON 22 FEBRUARY
Your Majesties, Your Imperial Highnesses, Mr. Prime Minister, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am most grateful for the very warm welcome which Your Majesties have extended to my husband and myself, and I wish to express our deep sense of happiness at visiting this great country as your guests and as guests of the Government of Japan.
Your Majesties, I would like at the outset to express again the profound sadness and deep regret felt throughout Ireland at the news of the tragic loss of life caused by the devastating earthquake in the Kobe/Osaka area last month. On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Ireland, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to you and to the people of Japan, and my sincere condolences to the families of the bereaved. Just as we were all shocked by the scale of the earthquake, so also have we admired the courage, the resilience, the discipline and the spirit of community which have characterised the response of the Japanese people at this critical time.
I am very conscious of the shadow which the effects of the earthquake have cast over Japan: in Ireland this year we are beginning to commemorate one of the worst catastrophes in recent Irish history, the Great Famine of 1845 to 1850. The folk memory of the famine has been part of the psyche of the Irish people ever since. The commemoration of the famine is, however, an opportunity through which the Irish people can better understand the cause and effect of poverty and hunger in the world today.
During my visit to Goma, Zaire, last Autumn, I was heartened at the response of the world-wide community to the plight of the people of Rwanda. The presence of both Irish and Japanese teams in co-operation efforts, such as in Goma or in Cambodia, is a very concrete example of the world community's increasing interdependence. We in Ireland are fully aware that Japan is playing an exemplary and ever-enlarging role in international relations, in particular in humanitarian relief, as well as through its generous and extensive programme of development assistance. We also greatly appreciate the continued interest and support of the Government and people of Japan in international efforts to promote peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.
In Ireland, we appreciate the very valuable contribution which Japan has made, and continues to make, to our country's economy, particularly in the fields of industrial development, financial services, trade and tourism. We also value the training and experience gained by the newest addition to the Irish diaspora: our young engineers, scientists, teachers and Japanese-language graduates who have come here in increasing numbers on a variety of programmes over the past ten years. These endeavours are to the benefit of the economies and peoples of both countries. I am confident that still richer benefits to both our countries will follow from this especially friendly relationship and the rapidly extending range of human contacts.
The people of Ireland recall with affection the splendid visit to Ireland which Your Majesties paid in 1985. Since then the years have seen a most encouraging development of relations between Ireland and Japan and we have much to offer each other in cultural as well as in economic and technological exchanges. These are greatly assisted by the growing interest in the Japanese language and Japanese culture in Ireland; and by the interest which exists in Japan in the work and achievement of Irish writers in the English language such as Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. Yeats, whose own dramatic work was greatly influenced by Japanese literature, especially the Noh play, continues to be an inspiration to Japanese writers.
I am especially pleased that my programme will include an opportunity to visit Shimane prefecture and the historic city of Matsue, synonymous with the name of Lafcadio Hearn, who is one of the foremost interpreters to the Western world of Japanese life and culture, with which he developed an extraordinary empathy.
Your Majesties, Ireland like Japan is an island nation which has wholeheartedly embraced the challenge of the future but which looks back with pride at its Celtic heritage and historic achievement, and seeks a harmony between tradition and development. It gives us immense pleasure to have been invited to visit your great country and to have this opportunity of seeing for ourselves the achievements of a magnificent culture and a remarkable people from whom we can learn so much.
I would like to offer a toast to the health of Your Majesty and Her Majesty, The Empress, and to the prosperity and happiness of the people of Japan.