ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, MARY ROBINSON AT THE STATE DINNER HOSTED BY PRESIDENT WALESA
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, MARY ROBINSON AT THE STATE DINNER HOSTED BY PRESIDENT WALESA, TUESDAY, 21 JUNE 1994
Mr. President, Madam Walesa and distinguished guests
I am delighted and honoured to be present here this evening as the first President of Ireland to pay a State Visit to the Republic of Poland. I have looked forward to this visit with deep personal interest and anticipation. I have indeed looked forward to meeting you, Mr. President, because the name, Lech Walesa, the movement called Solidarity and the courageous people of this country became, throughout the 1970's and 1980's, agents of hope, forces for change, and heroes of democracy and civil rights across Europe and around the world. For this special opportunity I want to say a sincere "thank you" to my most distinguished host, President Walesa.
It was here in Poland that the Second World War began. And it was here that the process began which brought the Cold War to an end. Poland led the way for change and reconstruction in this part of Europe. The Solidarity Revolution triggered the chain of events which finally released the full human potential of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe. Today Poland stands transformed, eager, willing and capable of contributing to the development of a more peaceful, prosperous and caring world. We all knew that the idealistic goals and opportunities of this new era would be hard to realise. The stubborn legacy of the past has been difficult to leave behind. For many there has been uncertainty and pain. The tragedy of ethnic conflicts, the expectations of immediate prosperity, the frustrations of the transformation process, all contributed to the dramatic and, at times, traumatic process of change.
Poland has become the example for others to look to. Poland's values have not changed - Poland's spirit, Poland's strength of character and Poland's love of liberty. Poland will continue to succeed because the Polish people have made the journey before.
Indeed, Mr President, in looking back over Poland's history there have been numerous occasions when this great nation has embraced significant change, met new challenges and seized the opportunity of the moment to advance the interests of the Polish people. One of the most significant of those moments was when the Polish Parliament adopted the celebrated Constitution of the 3rd May 1791 and gave to Europe its first modern Constitution. It was a revolutionary document - inspired, courageous and far sighted. The eminent Irish parliamentarian Edmund Burke said of it at the time:
'To add to this happy wonder, this unheard of conjunction of wisdom and fortune, not one drop of blood was spilled; no treachery; no outrage; no system of slander more cruel than the sword; no studied insults on religion, morals, or manners; no spoil; no confiscation, no citizen beggared; none imprisoned; none exiled; the whole was effected with a policy, a discretion, an unanimity and secrecy, such as have never been before known on any occasion; but such wonderful conduct was reserved for this glorious conspiracy in favour of the true and genuine rights and interests of men. Happy people, if they know how to proceed as they have begun'.
We now know that the opportunity to continue that work was denied to Poland as within a few years there began an occupation and a cruel partition which lasted for over one hundred and twenty years.
It was not until the end of the First World War that Poland and later Ireland regained independence. The struggle for freedom in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is deeply embedded in the consciousness and experience of our peoples. In our similar and often tragic histories, both our countries "disappeared" from the map of Europe. But today our freedom is rediscovered, our sense of national identity strong and mature, and our commitment to constructing a new and better Europe imaginative and determined.
The Association Agreement between Poland and the European Union was first envisaged at the Dublin Summit during Ireland's last Presidency in 1990. It has now come into effect and provides a dynamic framework for relations between the European Union and Poland. In the meantime the Copenhagen European Council has committed the member states to Poland's eventual membership. I have every confidence that you will in time satisfy the conditions required and that you will bring to the European Union not only an exciting and important market but also your own special qualities, experiences and traditions as a people.
Despite the difficulties of the recent past we were never strangers. Our trading relationship, although modest, continued in a predictable and reliable manner. Our academics met and exchanged ideas, cultural relationships were never set aside - indeed Poland is the country in this part of Europe with which we have the strongest cultural relationship. In many other parts of the world - in the United States and Canada, in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - many Irish and Polish women and men worked and worshipped and built a life together.
However, since the historic breakthrough in 1989 there has been a quantum leap in contacts between our two countries. The exchange of resident Embassies has given a new impetus to developments across a wide range of areas. Both in its own right and as a member of the European Union Ireland has been pleased to contribute to Poland's economic transformation. Many of these programmes will establish strong and, I am confident, enduring relationships in areas such as agriculture, employment services, air transport and airport services, health care, industrial and banking restructuring and in the development of small and medium size enterprises. It was an Irishman who wrote the base line study for the development of the Polish tourism industry. At present an Irish adviser is leading a team of European experts in helping Polish companies find reliable export markets. Earlier this month a team of some twenty five Irish experts from the first ever international duty free zone at Shannon reported to the Polish Government on what they are confident will be the next international industrial zone to be located in South-East Poland. Next September, in the area of education, some thirty English language teachers from Ireland will begin a special programme in schools in the Lublin region.
Mr. President, I know that the advice of friends is important - that we must all learn from the experience of others. But it is equally important that progress be seen - that prosperity be evident to our own people. Trade is the oldest form of international co-operation. I am glad to note that the trading relationship between our two countries has expanded considerably as have general economic and business contacts. The Irish Trade Board has opened an office in Warsaw. An Ireland Poland Economic Association established in Dublin in 1991 now has over a hundred members reflecting the widespread interest in this new and growing economic relationship.
Today Poland is Ireland's second largest market in this part of Europe and indeed we are one of your European partners with whom the balance of trade remains strongly in Poland's favour. A number of Irish companies have invested in Poland, the most significant being in the dairy sector not far from your own city of Gdansk. What has been achieved is impressive, but we must continue to improve our trading relationship - give this momentum a new impetus. I am very pleased that during my visit, in addition to those already here, some twenty Irish companies are in Warsaw seeking ways to further develop this aspect of our relationship.
I welcome, as I know you do, the increasing contacts at the political and diplomatic levels. Last month I received a Parliamentary Delegation from Warsaw led by the distinguished Marshall of the Senate - The House in the Irish Parliament to which I have a particular attachment. Ireland's only Embassy in East Central Europe is located in Warsaw and we are delighted to have had a Polish Embassy in Dublin since 1991 under the leadership of one of Poland's foremost literary personalities - Ambassador Ernest Bryll.
We are also glad to have the sympathetic support and encouragement of the Polish Government for the efforts of the Irish and British Governments to advance the prospects for peace in Northern Ireland through the Downing Street Declaration. I know Mr. President that as the leader of a movement dedicated to peaceful political change you recognise dialogue, reconciliation and negotiation as the only means, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, to bind the wounds of a nation - to open a new chapter. Mr. President, you opened a new chapter in the history of Poland. This evening let us both fervently hope for a new chapter in relations between the communities in Northern Ireland and between the two parts of the island of Ireland.
The cultural relationship between Poland and Ireland has also been strengthened and deepened. I note that there are Polish Irish Societies in Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow and Katowice. Growing contacts and visits between institutions of higher learning have been greatly facilitated by the Tempus programme, and reinforce other long established links such as those with the Catholic University in Lublin where Polish students have the opportunity to study the Irish language. A course in Polish language and culture is now available at Trinity College in Dublin. Exhibitions of Irish art have been held in numerous locations across Poland and Irish music and songs, played often by Polish groups, have a growing following in Poland. I was pleased to hear that last year Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lunasa" was performed, in Polish, in both Warsaw and Cracow.
Mr. President, there is an ease and a ready friendship in the relationship between the Poles and the Irish. We feel comfortable with one another. Together we will contribute to a Europe with which we are both comfortable - a Europe in which our own special genius and heritage will add content and depth to a Continent which is being made whole again. There is a very beautiful saying in the Irish language "Is ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine" - which in translation says "we live in each others shadow" - let the Europe we help build together be a Europe where we can live in community, interdependence, prosperity and friendship.
Three hundred years ago this year a young medical doctor, Bernard O'Connor from Co. Kerry in Ireland, came to Warsaw to take up his appointment as the chief physician at the Court of King Jan Sobieski III. When he left he wrote the first history of Poland to be published in the English language. In the introduction to his work Bernard O'Connor talks of the kindliness of the Polish people - that Mr. President is a characteristic which is immediately evident to all who have the opportunity to visit this most hospitable and remarkable country.
In concluding, allow me to express my deep appreciation for the gracious hospitality which you have extended to me and to the Irish delegation. I would ask all your guests to join me in a toast to the President of the Republic of Poland and to the prosperity and happiness of the kindly Polish people - Mr. President may I wish you STO LAT - or in the Irish language GO RAIBH FADA BUAN THÚ.