Remarks on the presentation of a Presidential Award for Distinguished Service to Senator George Mitchell
Áras an Uachtaráin, 12th December 2013
I am delighted to welcome Senator Mitchell, his wife Heather, friends and colleagues to Áras an Uachtaráin.
This is the second year of operation of the Presidential Awards for Distinguished Service for the Irish Abroad, of which Senator Mitchell is a most worthy recipient.
One of the eligibility criteria for the Award is that the recipient must have rendered sustained service to Ireland for at least five years. In Senator Mitchell’s case we do not need a second’s reflection on that score.
When President Clinton asked the Senator to become economic Envoy to Northern Ireland in 1995, he might have reasonably assumed that it would be a commitment with a limited shelf-life.
Yet, 18 years later, the Senator remains closely associated with Ireland and the people of both parts of the island remain deeply grateful for the crucial role he has played in securing peace and political progress.
The succeeding years to President Clinton’s invitation to Senator Mitchell and his generous response to it have seen a progressive deepening of the Senator’s engagement with Ireland through his authorship of the Mitchell Report on how the very difficult issues of arms decommissioning might be handled, and the articulation of the “Mitchell Principles”; his chairmanship of the multi-party talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement; and a decade as Chancellor of Queens University Belfast. The list of generous and committed engagement with this island and its people is long.
The Senator’s chairmanship of the multi-party talks covered a two year period of immense challenge and required the greatest sensitivity. During this time Senator Mitchell was called upon to exercise and demonstrate outstanding gifts of patience, wisdom, resilience and dignity.
I particularly recall the dignity that the Senator displayed time and time again at press conferences when there was little progress to report but his eloquence and gravitas still managed to convey a sense of forward momentum. After one such challenging press conference, the Irish Times journalist made this simple assessment of the Senator’s stewardship; it was he said – “a class act”.
The Senator’s commitment to the cause of peace in Northern Ireland came at a personal price. He and his wife Heather made the considerable sacrifice of being separated from each other during the early months of the life of their son Andrew – a sacrifice which is movingly reflected in Colm McCann’s novel “Transatlantic”.
On behalf of the people of Ireland, may I thank you both for that personal commitment and sacrifice.
In the period following the Good Friday Agreement, Senator Mitchell told many people of his dream for the future. It involved bringing his teenage son Andrew to the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont where he might witness the conduct of normal politics, where there would be no talk of violence (because violence was gone), and no talk of peace (because peace prevailed).
In 2012, you and Andrew realised that dream and witnessed at first hand the transformation that has occurred in Northern Ireland – a transformation to which you made an immense contribution and one that is cherished by the people of this island, of all traditions and faiths.
I am delighted that you are accompanied by friends and colleagues from the US Embassy. I am particularly pleased that David Cooney is with us. I know David worked very closely with you during the course of the multi-party talks.
I know that your deep sense of public service was not just limited to your period in office in the US or your commitment to Ireland. It also included your role as US Special Envoy for the Middle East and your engagement on an issue that is nearly as challenging – the governance of baseball.
On behalf of the people of Ireland, it gives me great pleasure to present to you the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service for the Irish Abroad.