REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE BREHON LAW SOCIETY PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, 15 MAY, 2000
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE BREHON LAW SOCIETY PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, 15 MAY, 2000
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Is breá liom bheith anseo libh anocht sa chathair álainn seo. Mo bhuíochas libh as an cuireadh agus as fáilte a bhí caoin, cneasta agus croiúil.
It gives me great pleasure to be here this evening in your historic city, a city I first got to know as a young law student on a summer visit. In those days, I had left behind me for a short while my home city of Belfast with its political violence, its shocking sectarianism and what we now know was its descent into almost thirty years of heart-breaking conflict. This place with its historic significance as a crucible of fundamental rights and democratic values was an invaluable antidote, a sign of hope that with commitment, we could craft out of the chaos a consensus based culture with respect, justice, equality and opportunity for all.
This, as it happens, is a good time to return to Philadelphia for there is good news to bring, not just news of hope but of hopes turned into reality as the people of the island of Ireland make a conscious and collective shift of history’s trajectory.
This city of Philadephia and this State of Pennsylvania have their own powerful tales to tell about shifting the deadweight of the past out of the way of the future. Their story, your story, is the story of the primacy of the individual human person, his or her entitlement to equality by birthright, to a voice, to opportunity, to respect. Over the centuries, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania have been renowned for their attachment to the ideals of liberty and for a sophisticated system of government which, long before these principles had achieved common currency, was founded on religious tolerance and active participation of their citizens.
William Penn, whose liberal philosophy infused Pennsylvania’s original Constitution, was raised near Macroom in Co. Cork. Many of his most formative years were spent in Ireland and it was there that he was first introduced to the Quaker faith and in Cork that he later joined the Society of Friends. It is a source of pride to us that at the heart of the Pennsylvanian story there is more than a little hint of the Irish.
It is fitting that Philadelphia should be the birthplace both of your Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution of the United States. Over the years the ideals embodied in those documents have served as a powerful magnet to the millions who came to this land from across the globe, to escape oppression and tyranny. They form the basic building blocks of your legal system, itself a crucial element in building today’s United States. More than that, these ideals have been an important influence, whether overtly or implicitly, in the constitutions and legal frameworks of virtually every one of the world’s democratic states, including my own.
Genuine, sustainable, democracy is vulnerable without a constitutional framework that sets out clearly the rights and obligations of its citizens and the relationship between the various institutions of the state. These establish the parameters for the development of the whole body of law and regulations which govern society. They give comfort and the prospect of vindication to the individual, they knit individuals into communities based on respect. Constitutions and laws do not exist in a vacuum - they themselves, and even more importantly, the way in which they are implemented, operate as a dynamic, profoundly impacting on people, on the way they live and on the way their hopes and aspirations can be realised.
Confidence in the legal system is central to the principle of consent. It is central to the well-being of the human person, critical to the stability of society. Where there is a perception that the law is not impartial, that it exists or is utilised to promote and protect the interests of one sector of society at the expense of another, that justice is not being administered impartially, then the result, as Ireland has reason to know, can be a marginalisation of significant elements in society, an undermining of their confidence in the institutions of government, and ultimately, perhaps, even withdrawal by them of their consent to be governed by those institutions. When the law becomes “their law” and not mine, and order becomes “their order” and not mine, there is already a dangerous acid eating away voraciously at the fabric of society. Those who believe in law, who believe in democracy, who believe in the absolute dignity of each human person, need to be acutely sensitive to that acid and actively involved in preventing the conditions in which it does its worst.
As you know, I grew up in Northern Ireland in a divided society where a large part of the community felt little or no sense of ownership of the legal system and had little confidence that it would vindicate their rights. My decision to study for a career in the law was profoundly influenced by my experiences of a society in which sectarianism and prejudice were everyday occurrences for many. Other people of my generation made different choices. For some the path led to violence as perpetrators, for others it led to violence as victims. Our experience of violence has taught us how difficult it is to promote dialogue and seek consensus against a backdrop of deep hurts and hatreds. Yet our experience has also taught us just how profound is the human capacity for change and how vital it is that those who believe in democratic, humanly decent values keep on telling their story, persuading the sceptical of its value, its integrity, its power to effect change and bring about justice, equality and peace. Blessed indeed are the peacemakers.
When the history of these times is written, many names of significance will feature, for our peace was crafted by a galaxy of men and women of courage, willing to change themselves and to offer leadership to others as they in turn struggled to change. Indeed among those names is that of Seamus Mallon honoured by this society last year. And while it is invidious to single out individuals, I think it is appropriate in this gathering of eminent lawyers to recall your fellow-practitioners, Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, both of whom were brutally murdered as a direct result of their efforts to achieve justice for their clients. In their deaths and indeed in their lives, we see something of the heroism, the commitment, the dedication to truth, the absence of comfort, the focus on others rather than self, the faith in the future, which infuses the being of the architects of our peace. This gift of peace crafted out of the tragic deaths of so many, the broken hearts of countless others, the often tentative decision to change, to give a little, by so many more, this precious, once fragile plant, has grown stronger and is now set to blossom in this new century, in this new millennium.
It is no accident that the outward signs of this profound inward change are visible in the legal documents which both capture the new mood and drive it forward. The Good Friday Agreement deals at some length with rights and safeguards, with policing and with the criminal justice system. The achievement of the aims set out in the Agreement will require considerable changes in the legal and judicial systems in Northern Ireland.
Over the years, many advocates of change had called for the adoption of a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights. This, like the first 10 amendments to your Constitution, would serve to ensure that the rights of the individual were fully respected, irrespective of their religious beliefs, their political aspiration or the community with which they identified themselves. The Agreement recognises that the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland require additional rights which go beyond those set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and which will reflect the principles of mutual respect for the identity and ethos of both communities as well as parity of esteem. Together with the rights set out in the European Convention, these will constitute a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. The independent Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is now consulting widely to ascertain what rights people would like to see included in the Bill and will make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Policing is a central issue in any society. The Good Friday Agreement recognised that the deep divisions within Northern Ireland had made policing a highly divisive and, indeed, painful issue for many people on both sides of the community. Yet the new future planned for Northern Ireland demands a police force drawn from all sides, trusted by all sides, working in partnership on behalf of the entire society. Without doubt, change will be very difficult for many people, particularly those who have lost loved ones and who find it hard to get over their loss and hurt. However, the package of proposals put forward by the Patten Commission on Policing have the potential to bring about a police service that is professional, effective, accountable, representative, and widely accepted by both the unionist and nationalist communities. The peacemakers and all who want peace know in their hearts that such a police force is one of the basic building blocks on which this new successful Northern Ireland will sit.
Another basic building block is a criminal justice system which commands the confidence of all parts of the community. The participants in the Good Friday Agreement decided that a review of the whole criminal justice system in Northern Ireland would be undertaken. The British Government has recently published that review and it sets the scene for a modern, fresh system well-equipped to deal with the new Northern Ireland.
This Report provides a comprehensive and wide-ranging view of the Northern Ireland criminal justice system, other than policing and those aspects of the system relating to emergency legislation. It deals with issues such as the integration of human rights fully into the criminal justice system, the establishment of a new independent prosecution service, greater transparency in the appointment of judges, and the question of how the community can become more directly involved in the administration of justice.
The second anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought such hope to people in both parts of Ireland has just passed. They have not been easy years. Sometimes progress was tangible and our hearts soared. Sometimes we seemed to grind to a halt and there were dark days as in Omagh, when we faced down those whose actions were designed to drag us back into the vortex of terror.
We have learnt the value of patience, endurance and faith. We have learnt how difficult it is to build trust - difficult, not impossible. The new Assembly and the Executive which were established last December were barely up and running when they were suspended a few weeks later in the context of disagreement between the parties on the question of how paramilitary weapons are to be dealt with. They remain suspended as we speak but now the context has altered dramatically, bringing a strong conviction that the true day of history-making is at hand.
On 5th May the two Governments set out how they intend to implement the outstanding aspects of the Agreement for which they have responsibility. The following day the IRA responded to this initiative with a statement, unprecedented in its nature and content, indicating how they propose to deal with the issue of arms. The Governments have proposed that the Assembly and the Executive will be restored on 22nd May.
The parties are now studying these new developments carefully and, I believe, in a positive and helpful spirit. If they find them acceptable, and it is my firm hope and belief that they will, we face the prospect of turning the tide of history in this new century. The people of Northern Ireland whatever their denomination or their politics, are a courageous and feisty, a good and warm people. Despite the stereotypes, despite the simplistic images, unionist and nationalist have dug deep inside themselves to create the space in which peace could grow and flourish. Many carry the appalling wounds of loss that will never go away and so often they have been the most heroic voices insisting on compromise and dialogue. This peace process is largely theirs. Built by their sweat and tears. Now it is poised to bring them peace, prosperity, partnership. They know the cost of such a chance. They will make the best decision.
In the building of that peace they were never alone. The American people showed their concern in a million different and meaningful ways. We all owe a deep debt of gratitude, in particular to President Clinton and his administration and to his special envoy Senator George Mitchell. Their careful, even-handed help bridged many a chasm. Without them the process would have and could have foundered many a time.
But they would be the first to say that the peace belongs to the people of Ireland. They voted for it, they support it and they desperately wish to see it succeed.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Like your Declaration of Independence, the Good Friday Agreement represents a rejection of the inequities of the past. The Good Friday Agreement differs in nature from your Constitution. It has legal and constitutional dimensions. But it is also fundamentally a political charter. Ireland has laid claim to many historic moments this last while. There have been false starts, hiccoughs and days of despair. But please God we who are blessed and privileged to live through these times of hope will witness on May 22nd 2000 the first day of a new Northern Ireland, comfortable and friendly with its successful, dynamic neighbour with whom it shares the beautiful island of Ireland, comfortable within itself as it begins to operate the most radical form of consensus based democratic politics in the Western world. To all those in whose hands that future lies I wish God speed.
Mo bhuíochas libh arís. Go n-eirí go geal libh.