REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE IRISH IMMIGRATION CENTRE’S SOLAS AWARDS DINNER
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE IRISH IMMIGRATION CENTRE’S SOLAS AWARDS DINNER WEDNESDAY, 27TH MAY 2009
A cháirde, dear friends.
Cardinal O’Malley, Governor Patrick and distinguished guests.
I would like to thank the Irish Immigration Center for this beautiful award. I am greatly honoured to be this year’s recipient of the Solas Award and can assure you that I will cherish it, not just for what it is, but for what it symbolises – the unique friendship between Ireland and her emigrants, diaspora and friends here in the great city of Boston, a city that welcomed my own great grandmother’s five brothers and sisters over ninety years ago.
Sr Lena, thank you for your kind words of welcome. I know that this is a special year for the Irish Immigration Centre as you celebrate 20 years of service to the Irish community in Boston, and I know too that you have been involved since the very beginning. Your tireless work over so many years on behalf of immigrants here in Boston is deeply appreciated and I want to congratulate you and all of the staff of the Centre, your Board, and above all, your volunteers for what you have achieved.
I am reminded of a quote which I know was a favourite of President Kennedy’s, “one person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine with only interest”. That sounds like you, Sister. The vital work undertaken by the Centre has also attracted financial support from business sponsors here in Boston over the years – their generosity is key to the success of the Centre and its mission, and I would like to thank them also for their commitment to the Centre.
The motto of the Irish Immigration Centre is the old Irish proverb, “Ní neart go cur le chéile” which translates roughly as “together we are stronger”. The work of the Centre really provides living proof of the truth of this saying. Having started out with a mission to assist vulnerable Irish immigrants, the Centre now assists immigrants of all nations who arrive here in Boston. This reaching out is in the great Irish tradition of helping others, of making a contribution to our communities, and I am particularly proud to recognise this dimension of your work. Amongst the Immigration Centres in the US you are known to be a leader and an innovator and that makes Ireland very proud indeed.
Among other mandates, the Irish Immigration Centre was designated Boston area manager for the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program. This programme was a great success and benefited young participants from Northern Ireland and the border counties over many years due to the great commitment of your staff. I would also congratulate you on your continuing work through the Wider Horizons initiative, and the new Working Holiday Authorisation Scheme which facilitates Irish students spending a year living and working in the US. These investments in individuals pay off over a lifetime in the friendships made and minds opened to new people, new possibilities.
I would like to give a special mention to the Centre’s Cross-Cultural Program which promotes respectful relationships among Boston's diverse communities by working across racial, class and ethnic boundaries to find common ground. This commitment to building bridges of cooperation across cultures and to fighting racism is hugely commendable, and one from which we in Ireland can draw inspiration as we seek to build a tolerant, multi-ethnic society.
I was also fascinated to learn of the Irish connection with the Caribbean island of Montserrat and the Irish Immigration Centre’s cooperation with the “Montserrat Aspirers” in bringing the two communities together here in Boston. Not only are there shared links of heritage and history, but Irish immigrants and refugees from Montserrat have also shared experiences of life on the margins due to unresolved immigration issues here in Boston.
The history of Irish immigration to Massachusetts and to Boston is well-documented and this history has forged the strong links between Ireland and Massachusetts. An observer at the end of the 18th Century noted the instinctive affinity that was felt even then, saying “an Irishman, the instant he sets foot on American ground becomes, ipso facto, an American… a native of Ireland stood in need of no other certificate than his dialect” .
The ancestral presence here is stronger than any other US state, with 23% of the population claiming Irish ancestry. The numerous waves of Irish who arrived on these shores from Famine times and even before, have continued right to this day. They contributed more than a dialect, they contributed immeasurably to their adopted communities, to businesses, to politics here, and we are deeply proud of the successes and achievements of our emigrants. And they never forgot the homeland. I often say that Irish emigrants seem to grow two hearts – one for the adopted land, and the other which remains connected to the motherland. We have benefited mightily from that reality and we are deeply grateful. This is a good moment to acknowledge a few new movie stars in our midst! TG4, our great national Irish language TV channel, is currently broadcasting a series called Bibeanna Mheiriceá, which profiles 20 women who left Ireland in the 1950s or so and settled in the US, many of them here in Massachusetts. They were mostly from the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht in Kerry and the series captures well the power of the story that is the global Irish family. I salute a number of the good Kerrywomen profiled in the series who are with us this evening.
The Government of Ireland is committed to examining ways in which we can harness the potential of our widespread global family in mutually beneficial ways. It is a great resource and wherever we are in the world, or wherever we are placed in history, we are united in our fierce desire to remain connected, to remain kin to each other and to Ireland.
As part of the commitment on the part of the Government and people of Ireland to repaying the great debt owed to our emigrants, significant funding has been made available in recent years to the Irish Immigration Centre and many other organisations in the US whose work in welfare, community and cultural areas is invaluable. In these and other ways we hope to develop a more structured and practical relationship with our global family.
We, of course, always remember that the situation facing the group of Irish emigrants who continue to be undocumented is acute. Their lack of status limits their freedom to work and travel openly and without worry. The fact is that they cannot return to Ireland for important family events without accepting the likelihood of being refused re-entry, and this, I know, is a particular burden, both on the undocumented themselves and on their families in Ireland. Our family still talks of a great-granduncle who, with his four sons, was deported back to Ireland in the 1920s for lack of proper papers and separated from his wife and five other children. It would be quite a few tough years before they were all reunited. To live as fugitives is to live a life of unease and uncertainty and I know it is an issue to which the Irish Government is attaching great priority in its discussions with the US Administration and with Congress, and our hope remains for an outcome that can ease the very difficult situation of this important part of our community.
We are all keenly aware of the current difficulties that have rocked the global economy, and Ireland, as a small, globalised economy has been hit hard. But in setting out on our journey of recovery, we have great inspirational stories of resilience to draw on and from within our extended family, not least those generated by people in this room and throughout the US, and their forebears, who overcame enormous odds to succeed in their adopted homeland. Every generation is tested in its own way. You and your forebears passed yours with flying colours. For our part, we too want to be able to tell our grandchildren a story of pride in our capacity to pass our test when our turn came, that we were able to adapt, learn, pick ourselves up and start again.
Another major source of inspiration to us on our journey is the enduring success of the Peace Process. It’s been 11 years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed and, despite the efforts of a small undemocratic few a number of months ago to defy the settled will of the people of the island of Ireland, it’s still going strong and getting stronger. In a world that has otherwise been turned on its head these past 12 months, that is a remarkable story. It’s also a story that the United States and Irish America can take real pride in, because without your help we would not be where we are. So I use this opportunity today to express our deepest thanks for that.
All in all, therefore, we have much to be positive and hopeful about in Ireland and we look to the future with confidence and determination, buoyed by the support of our kith and kin in the United States and inspired by their story.
A cháirde, to all of you, Friends of Ireland, and on this special night of celebration to all supporters of the Irish Immigration Centre, thank you and congratulations.