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NEW YEAR’S GREETING BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS

NEW YEAR’S GREETING BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS ON THURSDAY, 14TH JANUARY, 1999

A Oirircis, A Oirirceasa is a Uaisle Uile,

Cuireann sé an áthas orm agus ar mo fhear chéile fáilte a chur rombhaibh go léir go hÁras an Uachtaráin. Tá mé an bhuioch as na eannachtaí a chuir sibh romhainn agus roimh muintir na hÉireann uilig. Guím sonas, síochaín agus sláinte oraibh. Tá súil agam go mbeidh blian nua faoi mhaise agaibh go léir.

Your Excellency, Excellencies,

Thank you for the warm greetings which you have offered to my husband, Martin and to myself and through us, to the people of Ireland. I wish each of you peace, health and prosperity in 1999. I am delighted to welcome you to Áras an Uachtaráin and I am particularly pleased to see your families with you. A special welcome to our new ambassadors who are with us for the first time. We hope you and your families will settle here easily and happily. I would also like to say a very warm farewell and thank you to those of you who will be leaving us soon. I hope you had an enjoyable and fulfilling time here, both personally and professionally.

We in Ireland will always remember 1998 as the year in which the Irish and British Governments, together with the Northern Ireland political parties, reached the historic Good Friday Agreement. As the culmination of two years of intensive negotiations, the Agreement brings to fruition decades of dedicated work by those who longed to bring lasting peace to Ireland. Based on the principles of respect, tolerance, equality and partnership, it offers the prospect of a new beginning in which we can overcome our differences, respect each others’ diversity and work together for the benefit of all. We will also recall that the people of Ireland, voting in referenda North and South, made the Agreement their own on May 22nd, expressing in overwhelming numbers their belief in the brighter, peaceful future that it offers.

While we recall with pride and hope those days of celebration, we remember too with deep sorrow the murderous destruction wreaked in Omagh by those who set themselves against the Agreement and against the will of the people. The devastation caused by the bomb in August, and the fortitude of the people in the face of such barbarity, demonstrated, once again, that hope for the future is vested the in Agreement. In its implementation rests the best guarantee that there will be no more Omaghs. In the year ahead, as we approach the new Millennium, we in Ireland must dedicate ourselves to seeing its full potential realised, working together to overcome whatever difficulties arise, accepting that they will, but driven inexorably forward by the manifest will of the people for partnership and peace.

While 1998 has again seen uncertainty, insecurity and conflict in so many parts of the world, the 50th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights provided an opportunity for us to mark the many achievements in the field of human rights. It helped us to focus too, on the considerable work ahead. As we move towards the new millennium, it is worth recalling the recognition in the UN Declaration on Human Rights of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family in the foundation of freedom, justice and peace. We must continue to work to address the root causes, and not just the symptoms, of insecurity and conflict, to eradicate poverty and to develop and strengthen good governance and the rule of law. Foresight and adaptability are essential to ensure the provision of a more effective response to global problems through international co-operation in the economic, social and humanitarian areas. Progress can and must be built and consolidated through partnership, using all the tools and means at our disposal. The values and goals set must reflect the realities of the world of the new century with the ending of the Cold War, the advance of democratisation and the impact of globalisation.

No challenge facing the international Community today is greater than confronting the crisis of extreme poverty in the least developed countries of the world. Here our common membership of the human family challenges us to respond responsibly and generously. The economic crises of recent months have brought home to all of us that we live in a world where developments in one country or region can have a profound impact on others.

I hope and pray that the coming year will see a strong commitment by all developed countries to strengthen international development co-operation and build bridges in a world increasingly divided by poverty and exclusion.

The past year has been another year of exceptional growth in Ireland’s economy and projections indicate that strong growth will continue in the coming year. Together with eleven of our partner countries in the European Union, Ireland is now participating in the third stage of economic and monetary union. The smooth transition to the introduction of the Euro on 1st January was a momentous step in the process of the European integration.

The European Union remains a remarkable pillar of stability and prosperity for its own people and on the wider European continent. It faces many challenges in the coming year: the bedding down of the new single currency; the need to agree a sound financial framework for the coming period; the reform of the Union’s main policies so as to ensure that they are on firm footing at the start of a new millennium; and the challenge of making further progress towards the most significant enlargement in the Union’s history. But these very challenges are also Europe’s momentous opportunities. Ireland looks forward with enthusiasm and deep commitment to continuing to play a constructive part in building our shared future, within Europe and across the world.

At the heart of building the kind of healthy international relationships which the world earnestly needs, is the quiet busy world of the diplomat. Representing his or her country at the very highest and most sensitive levels calls for people of extraordinary calibre. You are the shop fronts for your country, your culture, your people. You carry big burdens and carry them so often far from home, far from the comfort of your own fireside, your own wider circle of family and friends. Your children are regularly uprooted and transplanted to face new schools and find new friends. They must cope with the sadness at parting from old friends with stoicism and maturity. Whatever personal toll the job takes, you simply get on with it and do it well. I want to say thank you to you for all you have done, for the way in which you have brought your countries to the heart of Ireland and Ireland to the heart of your countries. Thank you for your friendship and may we all see those friendships blossom in this last year of the old century, the old millennium.

Again I thank Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, for your kind greetings. Gúim rath agam sonas oraibh go léir.