REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT AN IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION IN ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT AN IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION IN ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND ON TUESDAY 13 OCTOBER, 1998
Tá an-áthas orm a bheith anseo i bhúr measc don chéad uair mar Uachtarán na hÉireann. Níl deis agam ach tamaillín ghairid a chaitheamh libh ach is iontach ar fad an fáilte atá curtha romham cheana féin.
I want to thank you for the very warm welcome you have given me this evening - and I would like to say a particular word of thanks to the Presidents and the Committees of the Irish Newfoundland Association and the Benevolent Irish Society, who have jointly organized this reception. I am very pleased to bring you greetings from the people of Ireland, and from all those Irish people who think of Newfoundland as a place of particular kinship on the other side of the Atlantic.
Here in Newfoundland, I am very conscious of the long history of the European settlements.
Last year, you celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Cabot landing. The Irish have been here almost from the beginning of Newfoundland as a place where European settlers came to set up new homes and homesteads. The earliest record of an Irish inhabitant on the island goes back to 1622, when an Irishman was discovered hunting beaver with some Indians near Cape St. Mary’s.
In later years, of course, the Irish came here in ever increasing numbers, so that by the end of the 18th century the Irish were the dominant population in the Avalon Peninsula, including the town of St. John’s.
It was around this time, in 1806, that the Benevolent Irish Society was established as a non-sectarian organization to relieve the poor and distressed among their countrymen – and I am very pleased that the Society is still in existence to this day. A few years later, an Irishman, Philip Francis Little, was to be the first Premier of Newfoundland.
Newfoundland continues to the present day to be the most Irish place outside Ireland, with a higher proportion of the population being of Irish stock than any place else in the world.
The Irish imprint on Newfoundland is quite evident even after being only a few hours in the province. If I did not know already that most of the Irish settlers in Newfoundland came from the southeastern counties of Ireland, just listening to the very discernible Hibernian quality in the English spoken by many people in this city would leave you in no doubt whatsoever. I can also see that strong Irish influence in the Irish names on street signs, in the phrases of Irish derivation which are used in your speech, and in so many aspects of your culture.
I am glad to say that after a period during which we seemed to lose sight of each other, Ireland and Newfoundland have recently rediscovered their kinship - and that a new and positive relationship between our two islands is in the process of being developed. This new phase in relations dates back to the signature in Dublin in November 1996 by Premier Tobin and our then Taoiseach, John Bruton, of a Memorandum of Understanding on economic and cultural cooperation. Since then, a great deal of business has been transacted between us.
Indeed, I have just come from a meeting with the Irish Business Partnerships, the group which has been charged by Premier Tobin with the responsibility of managing the Memorandum in Newfoundland. I congratulated them on the work they have done and told them that we in Ireland are equally committed to further developing the relations between us to our mutual benefit.
It is fair to say that as a result of the Memorandum, there have been more reciprocal visits between our two islands at the political, official, and business level in the past two years than literally for generations before. Irish ministers, officials and businesspeople who have come to Newfoundland have been given the warmest possible welcome. I am sure that all this activity will create new opportunities for businesses in both Newfoundland and Ireland and will lead to increased partnership and investment in the business area.
I would like to pay a particular tribute to Premier Tobin, who initiated the Memorandum of Understanding and who has continued to give his strong personal support to the developing cooperation between us. Without his active intervention, we would not have been able to achieve what has been done.
May I also pay a warm tribute to our Honorary Consul, Mr. Craig Dobbin, who two years ago agreed to take on the responsibility of representing Ireland’s interests in Newfoundland.
He has done a wonderful job, and has taken a strong personal interest in the work of implementing the Memorandum of Understanding and bringing it to fruition. He has made life very easy for Irish visitors to Newfoundland, and has been a most generous host.
Finally, I would like to thank you again for your hospitality, and to say how much of an honour it has been for me to come here to this special part of Canada – to bring with me the greetings and good wishes of the people of Ireland for their kinfolk and fellow members of the global Irish family here in the most easterly part of Canada.