Speech at a Community Reception hosted by Ambassador Orla Tunney
Verdi Room, Dom Pedro Palace Hotel, Lisbon, Portugal, 10th December 2015
President Cavaco Silva and Dottora Maria;
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:
My wife Sabina and I, take great pleasure in being part of this Irish evening in Lisbon, as part of our State Visit to Portugal. A State Visit is the highest level of courtesy which one country can offer to another and it has been a great honour for us to accept this invitation from President Cavaco Silva, who has been such a good friend to Ireland.
It is a mark of his extraordinary generosity to Ireland that the President, together with Dottora Maria, has made time to be with us here this evening. I thank both of you for accepting our invitation to this return hospitality, and joining us for what I fully expect will be a very enjoyable and lively evening.
In my meetings yesterday with the President, with Prime Minister Costa and with the other Portuguese political, business and cultural figures we have had the pleasure to meet, it is very clear to me how much Ireland and Portugal have in common.
I feel that we owe our similarities to those aspects of history which we share - the influence of Celtic culture, our shared traditional reliance on farming and on the sea, our religious tradition, our deep love of music and literature, and the experience of our peoples as migrants and exiles.
As a result of our histories and our geographic locations, we are both outward-looking peoples, conscious of the world around us, cognisant of the influence of external forces upon us and active participants in bringing our values to bear on international relations. It is notable that both countries joined the United Nations on the very same day in 1955, sixty years ago this week.
Our membership of the European Union too, binds us together, and we have had very useful discussions during this visit on the many challenges facing the Union. We have also discussed how Member States on the
so-called periphery, can do more together to ensure that the EU always reflect those democratic and humanitarian values that underpin our European way of life and to which we are all committed.
In this, and in all things I have learned about Portugal during this visit, I am impressed by the strength of the people, and their ethical commitment to playing a positive role in the world.
Both countries, of course, are also grappling with the aftermath of a financial collapse that has had profound impacts on our populations. These painful experiences have been a catalyst for much reflection and questioning of the assumptions about how we manage our societies and our economies and also of the national and international frameworks in which decisions are taken. These reflections and discussions are ongoing at all levels of our societies and it is important that our particular experiences inform broader EU and global decision-making that will shape our shared futures.
Our great Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney, who visited Lisbon not long before his death, observed that it is precisely at times of greatest societal challenge that the arts are needed most, to “fortify your inner life, your inwardness”. The inwardness I speak of is not an isolationist impulse, rather one of knowing ourselves.
I understand that this same concept is part of the notion of “saudade” which is so central to the Portuguese psyche. There is a great value in knowing ourselves and, yes, even in reflecting intensely on moments of sadness and longing. Although we have no single word for it, this is something which is also much featured and prized in Irish music and literature, (although I think that we are in for something more lively tonight!)
In all of my meetings I have been asked about the personal and cultural links between our peoples. In this room, we have an important range of answers to those questions. The Ambassador has told me that we have here tonight people who were born in Portugal of Irish ancestry, who came to Portugal to work, or to retire, to start a business or to pursue a calling to religious life. We have teachers, scientists, and artists. We have those working in hospitality and those working with EU agencies. We have the young and the old, the golfers and the surfers, we have a diverse band of Irish people here, and I am glad to be here with you.
Here with us tonight also, we rejoice in great friends of Ireland from Portuguese cultural life. To you also I say Fáilte - welcome to our gathering. We are happy to share this moment with you, as you have so generously shared with us and worked with us.
Both of our countries have known the hardship which has meant our people having to leave their homelands. However from this, we have gained a diaspora across the world and both of our countries have much to gain from increased engagement with our communities abroad.
Our Irish community in Portugal is small but it continues to represent the best of Ireland. Passionate people who seek to share knowledge, friendship and our values. I would like to acknowledge in particular the representatives of the Irish Association of Portugal and the St. Patrick’s Society, who through their volunteer work help to sustain the Irish community and to ensure that our cultural traditions are known in Portugal.
Which brings me neatly to the point where I hand over to the artists who are to entertain us tonight.
Go raibh maith agaibh agus bainigí taithneamh as an bhfilíocht agus as an gceol.