REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE IN THE LISBURN LINEN CENTRE ON TUESDAY, 2ND MARCH, 1999
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE IN THE LISBURN LINEN CENTRE ON TUESDAY, 2ND MARCH, 1999
I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to visit the historic town of Lisburn today. I would particularly like to thank your Mayor, Peter O'Hagan, both for his kind invitation to me and for the very warm welcome with which I was received.
I was fascinated by the tour which I have just received of this wonderful museum and am very grateful to all of the staff who have made my visit so informative and so enjoyable.
History, as we all know, tends to record the big dates and the big achievements. But very few people have the opportunity to participate directly in such momentous occasions.
For most people life, in whatever era, is about family, work and the community in which they live. Museums such as this, which celebrate the life and industry of the ordinary person, are to be treasured. I firmly believe that without understanding the lives of the ordinary people who went before us, it is hard to achieve a proper understanding of ourselves.
It is particularly appropriate that a museum celebrating the role of an industry which has been of such historical importance to us should be situated here. For hundreds of years not only has linen been central to the life of Lisburn, Lisburn has been central to the Irish linen industry. I couldn't help noticing that the town's crest prominently features both sprigs of the flax plant and the weaver's shuttle – rightly acknowledging the unique synthesis between nature and craft which the production of linen represents. I grew up in the shadow of Belfast’s great linen mills. The women in my street were the mill girls whose stories were spun out around firesides where we as children would knit and sew the night away listening while the story of linen was changing forever.
It is wonderful that those stories are not lost to memory but are given a new voice in this generation and in this place. My thanks to those who cared enough to make sure the story did not die.
Once again, can I say how much I have enjoyed my visit - it is always heartening to see people taking such pride in their heritage, cherishing it and preserving it in a lively way for the generations to come. I thank everyone who has contributed to making my visit so enjoyable.
May I also wish the museum every success in the future.