Media Library

Speeches

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE AT DINNER HOSTED BY LUCIEN BOUCHARD, PREMIER OF QUEBEC

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE AT DINNER HOSTED BY LUCIEN BOUCHARD, PREMIER OF QUEBEC MONTREAL, WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER 1998

M. Le Premier Ministre,

Thank you very much for your warm welcome. This is the first full State Visit to Canada by an Irish President, and I am very pleased to be here in Quebec and in Montreal, home of one of the oldest and largest Irish communities in Canada. As you know, I will also be going to Quebec City in order to visit the Irish memorial at Grosse Ile, and I look forward to the opportunity to see that famous and historic city.

The Irish have a long history in Quebec. France in the 1600s was home to many of those exiles who are known in Irish history as the Wild Geese, leaders and soldiers who fled Ireland after the destruction of the gaelic political society and culture. It is particularly pleasing to discover that a vibrant and dynamic Irish community is still to be found in Quebec.

The first known documentary evidence of the Irish in Quebec is in the census of 1663, in which an Irishman was recorded living here in Montreal, not long after the city was founded (as Ville Marie) in 1642. Others soon followed, and Irish names are regularly found in the early records of the province, often adapted to French forms.

In time there were an estimated 35,000 Irish troops scattered among the garrisons of New France. Some of the earliest settlers in the Ottawa Valley, for instance, were demobilised soldiers from an Irish regiment in the French service. The Irish were also joined by compatriots who moved north from the colonies of New England, seeking religious freedom in Quebec.

By the time of Confederation in 1867, the Irish were the second largest ethnic group in the then four provinces of Canada, second only to the French. Irish people have played a significant part in the history of Canada and of Quebec. The lone Irish Montrealer of 1663 has been followed by at least six Irish mayors of the city, whose coat of arms, indeed, includes a shamrock. A number of Irishmen have preceded you as Premier of Quebec, right up to the present generation. If it might not be your intention, Mr. Premier, that there should be any more Irish holders of this distinguished office for the meantime, I am sure you will understand that their service has been a source of pride to Irish Quebeckers and Irish people everywhere.

Irish labourers helped build the Lachine Canal, which was so important to the prosperity of this city, and Irish religious helped establish Loyola College, Laval University and St. Mary’s Hospital. Indeed the first class at Collège Sainte-Marie, which later became Loyola College, consisted of seven French and six Irish pupils. Of at least equal importance, perhaps, to the people of this city, was Ambrose O’Brien, the first owner of the Montreal Canadiens.

I believe the Montreal flag accurately symbolises the part played by the Irish here in Quebec, where they have acted as a bridge or a link between the French and English strands of this Province’s history. The Irish and their descendants in Quebec include both anglophones and francophones, both ancient communities and recent arrivals, both catholics and protestants.

They shared language, history (and some of them religion) with the English, while in culture, temperament and usually in religion they had more in common with the French. This shared perspective and sympathy is evident in the part played by the Irish in Quebec. French and Irish made common cause to defend their religion and education system from establishment pressure to conform. Irish political leaders from outside Quebec, such as Francis Hinks and Robert Baldwin in Ontario, or Governor General Lord Dufferin, worked within the establishment to secure acceptance of the religious and linguistic rights of French Canadians.

The single episode which has for us come especially to symbolise the bond between the peoples of Ireland and Quebec is the generous response of the people of Quebec to the arrival of large numbers of Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine. Over 50,000 Irish immigrants are estimated to have arrived in the Saint Laurence that summer. Suffering greatly from epidemic fevers, they were detained at the quarantine station of Grosse Ile and then passed up river to Quebec and Montreal.

Over 5,000 Irish immigrants died and are buried on Grosse Ile, but as a result of the selfless response of Quebeckers, many more survived to build new lives in this country. 500 orphaned Irish children were adopted by Quebec families, who let them keep their own names, and so their Irish names can still be found among the francophone population in Quebec.

It is fitting therefore that I have this opportunity here, as President of Ireland, to thank you Mr. Premier, and through you the people of Quebec, for their helping hand to the Irish people in our hour of need.

As you know, next year a replica of the Jeanie Johnstone, one of the most famous of the Famine emigrant vessels, is scheduled to recreate those Atlantic voyages from Ireland to Quebec. The Jeanie Johnstone is currently being constructed in Ireland, and we appreciate the support both of your Government and of the Government of Canada for this project.

Ireland and Quebec have also found that they have much to share in their rich cultural heritage. With the strong Breton element in the French settlement, we share a common celtic inheritance. Irish music and song have had a deep influence on the traditional music of Quebec. Perhaps the greatest example of this cross-cultural fertilisation, however, is Emile Nelligan, son of an Irish father and a French mother, who became one of Quebec’s greatest poets.

In recent years, Irish language poets have come to the renowned International Poetry Festival in Trois Rivières. There is a student exchange programme between Dublin City University and Laval University. Each spring, Montreal is host to the Cine Gael festival of Irish films, with help from the Irish Embassy here. Last year, I know, a major Quebec Festival, supported by your Government, was held in my own part of the world, in Northern Ireland.

At the same time, the Irish in Quebec remain proud of and deeply attached to their own historic culture and heritage. Quebec City last year saw the celebration of L’Été Irlandais, the Irish Summer, an Irish cultural festival built around the 150th anniversary of 1847 on Grosse Ile.

Here in Montreal that heritage is being explored and preserved at Concordia University, which is becoming a centre for Irish studies. The Irish Lecture Series, assisted by the Irish Government, brings academics from Ireland to lecture on Irish history and culture. The Canadian Irish Studies Foundation is now trying to build on Concordia’s existing highly popular courses in these areas, by raising funds to endow a permanent undergraduate Irish Studies programme.

Mr. Premier, the long relationship between Ireland and Quebec has enriched both of our peoples and cultures. Many Irish people through the centuries have found a welcome and a home here and have played a positive role in the history of Quebec.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I invite you to raise your glasses and drink a toast to the Government and people of Quebec.