REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIR INDIA DISASTER, AHAKISTA, CO. CORK
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIR INDIA DISASTER, AHAKISTA, CO. CORK, THURSDAY, 23RD JUNE 2005
Dia dhíbh a cháirde. Is ócáid speisialta, ócáid stairiúil é seo agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl díbh as an gcuireadh a thug sibh dom bheith anseo libh inniu.
Prime Minister and Mr. Martin, Premier Campbell, Minister Cullen, Ambassador and Mrs. Kumar, Mayor of Cork Co. Council, Mayor of Bantry, families and friends of those who lost their lives here on this day twenty years ago, members of the Ahakista Memorial Committee, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of the people of Ireland I bid you welcome to this day of commemoration which unites in sadness and in solidarity the people of Ireland, of Canada and of India. This is not how things were supposed to be. No-one on that plane on that fateful day had this destination in mind. The tragic cruel end to the lives of so many men, women and children who left Toronto for Bombay full of thoughts of tomorrow and the next day was to mark the start of a journey of sorrow for the bereaved. We think of them especially on this day and we hope that in this memorial they may find comfort and solace, for it is a reminder not simply of those lost lives but of continuing care and concern for those who grieve.
I thank the members of the Ahakista Memorial Committee for giving me this opportunity to join in this remembrance of a dreadful, a wicked event which is without parallel in Irish aviation history. We Irish feel a particular affinity with those who perished, so many of them Indian emigrants living in Canada who were returning on holiday to the land of their birth. We Irish have a long emigrant history and we know how important such a visit is in the lives of the emigrant and their families at home. So many hearts full of loving anticipation wiped out by hearts full of hatred. And yet from the pathetic wreckage, the deepest bonds of friendship grew between strangers. The people of Ireland and the Indian community in Canada have grown close these twenty years united in sorrow and in cultural exchanges, a student bursary, and now this beautiful memorial. The people of the local community here have shown themselves to be wonderfully caring, generous and faithful friends. Year after year their hearts and homes have opened to those bereaved who came here in sad pilgrimage. Out of such humanity we see the power love has to transcend even the most appalling evil.
I wish to thank Their Excellencies the Ambassadors of India and Canada for the support they have given to the families and to the commemorations through the years, and in particular this year, the twentieth anniversary.
On behalf of the Irish people, I extend again to the people of Canada, and to the people of India, our deepest sympathy and our continuing sadness at the devastation wreaked off our shores on this day twenty years ago. We will keep remembering.
The words on Ken Thompson’s beautiful sundial speak for us all…
“time flies, suns rise and shadows fall;
let it pass by, love reigns forever overall,”
Go maire sibh. Go raibh maith agaibh arís.