Remarks at Union Hall Ecumenical Service Commemorating Five Fishermen
22nd April 2012
Dia dhaoibh go léir, Good morning to you all, Salem alaikum,
Is mór an onóir dom glacadh le cuireadh teacht in bhur measc inniu.
I am deeply honoured by your invitation here to Union Hall and where I wish to pay tribute to your heroic search effort and to the honour of your lost loved ones.
I wish to acknowledge the presence of your Parish Priest, Fr. Michael Curran and I wish to thank him for his assistance to me and my Office and also Fr Cormac. Also, I recognise the attendance of The Very Reverend Chris Peters, Dean of Ross, and Imam Hussein Halaa.
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an gCoiste Eagraithe agus leis an bpobal go léir as cuireadh a thabhairt dom teacht chuig an gcomóradh tábhachtach seo inniu. Tá muid bailithe le chéile inniu chun cuimhneamh a dhéanamh orthu siúd atá imithe ar shlí na fírinne agus chun buíochas a ghabháil maidir le spiorad láidir an phobail don chuardach laochúil a rinneadar. Mar gheall ar bhur ndianiarrachtaí agus bhur n-aontas mar phobal d’éirigh libh gach duine ó fhoireann an Tit Bonhomme’s a thabhairt ar ais dá gclanna.
It is appropriate today that we honour the memory of those lives that were lost; Tit Bonhomme’s skipper, Michael Hayes and his crew; Wael Mohamed, Attaia Shaban, Saied Ali Eldin, and Kevin Kershaw.
On behalf of the people of Ireland, I wish to express my sincere sympathies to all who lost loved ones on 15th January this year - to the sole survivor of this tragedy, Wael’s brother, Abdul Mohammed, and to the partners, wives, parents, children and friends of these five men who have been lost to the force of the sea. Coping with and, learning to live with loss is the great challenge you face but you can take heart from the fact that you have such strong communities around you at this difficult time.
As fishing people you know too the perils of life at sea. You understand the cruelty in how the sea gives and takes away life; its beauty and attraction, its power and devastation.
Tháinig spiorad pobail den scoth chun cinn le linn na tragóide i mí Eanáir seo caite. Ón am a d’imigh an Tit Bonhomme ar iarraidh tháinig muintir na háite le chéile mar phobal ar cheann de na taispeántais is fearr dá raibh ann. I mo chéad óráid mar Uachtarán, labhair mé faoi láidreacht an phobail nuair a thagann siad le chéile chun sprioc comónta a bhaint amach – cuireann sé an seanfhocail ‘ní neart go cur le chéile’ i gcuimhne dom.
Over the following month our country became enveloped in the story of the Tit Bonhomme, its crew and the people of this area. Grief and sadness were emotions felt in sitting rooms across the Country. But there was also sense of pride at seeing what is the very best of ourselves as a nation – community, neighbourliness, co-operation, and support in times of difficulty – an Irishness of which we can all be proud. Over the four week long search the Irish people got to know this community, a very special and strong community, an example of community working together.
Rather than allowing yourselves to be defeated by loss and tragedy, you showed strength of spirit and the power of the collective. Everyone in this community and people from right across West Cork and beyond became involved in what would be an enormous and heroic search effort. As Uachtarán na hÉireann, President of Ireland, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the men and women of the Naval Service of whom I am proud and honoured to serve as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Coast Guard, An Garda Síochána, the many volunteer divers and the dozens, indeed, hundreds of volunteers who helped and assisted here on-land.
Of course, at times of loss, people, families and communities come together but your spirit of co-operation was outstanding reflecting the best of community values.
The lifeblood of the villages of Union Hall and Borg Meghezel, where I believe Attaia, Saied and Wael are all from, is fishing. The members of the Egyptian community here today in Union Hall brought their heritage to the table; the heritage of the ancient Egyptians who invented many of the first fishing implements - nets, hooks and rods that are still used in some shape or form today - who had an intrinsic understanding of the power of the collective force for good and for change. The Egyptians, like the Irish, have a deep understanding of the attraction of the sea but as fishing people are all too aware of its power and devastation.
You worked as one community with a shared goal – to bring your loved ones home. Every action, great or small, had huge significance in giving hope to you all. The multi-faith prayers services, in the hard, gruelling and exhausting days of the search and the intervening periods between the recovery of one crew member and the next, sustained the community, nourishing the spirit, while the pier-side kitchen nourished the body.
You worked together as a community and with great dignity every step of the way and I congratulate you for that.
I have said that Irish society is currently a wounded society – the result of a period where unrestricted individualism and material gain thrived and took hold. Society was the lesser and as a consequence, community life and community spirit too suffered. We have an opportunity now to close a chapter on all that has failed us and build an Ireland based on shared values to create a common shared future – working together in the spirit of co-operation, of which, even in the worst of times, you have provided us with such a moving and impressive example.
I would like us all to take inspiration from the strength of spirit and perseverance you showed as a community who united together as a collective and positive, energetic force to help bring such closure as may be possible in time to the five families sadly involved in this tragedy.
Speaking at the commemoration of the victims of the Titanic last week I stated that in the end, we are defined always by our shared vulnerability and our shared humanity and are appropriately judged by the test as to whether during our lives we added to or subtracted from the quality of our community and society. As individuals and as a united group, you can have no doubts about your contribution to your community and society. You united for the common good, you were truly inclusive of each other and respected each other and working together you achieved your shared goal of bringing Tit Bonhomme’s crew home.
There is a Connemara Cradle Song that expresses a coastal community’s wishes for the safe return of fishermen - “May no one who’s dear to our island be lost, blow the winds gently, calm be the foam, shine the light brightly and guide them back home”. When Saied Ali Eldin’s body was finally brought home on the 10th February the entire country gave a collective sigh of thanks. While you have suffered in a great tragedy, I hope you can take some comfort from the fact that you did bring all of this crew home and also from the fact that your community by its actions gives hope to all of Irish society in our necessary transformation.
Thank you for your kind attention. Go raibh maith agaibh. Shukran. Alf Salem.