It is a great honour for me to welcome you both to Iveagh House today.
Your visit to Ireland underlines the growing ties of friendship that exist between Ireland and Poland. It reminds us of how much we have in common. Both our countries have experienced a difficult history that tested our nationhood and our sense of identity in fundamental ways.
Our people have shown great resilience in the face of adversity. Both our cultures are anchored in traditional values of faith and solidarity. We both possess a strong belief in the importance of the family, of community and of hospitality. Your visit to Ireland recalls the fact that we also share a common future together in a new Europe.
Relations between Ireland and Poland have never been better. Trade is growing rapidly. Investment is now measured in billions of Euro. Tourism is developing very well. It has never been easier for people to travel back and forth between our two countries. Weekly airline seats are now measured in thousands – 17 thousand to be exact. There are now regular bus services between our two countries.
The close ties we celebrate today show how fruitless and futile it was for Communism to attempt to block the free exchange of ideas, free trade and free contact between the peoples of Europe. One of the dismal consequences of Communism was that other Europeans could only know countries like Poland from afar. This tragedy of separation lasted for two generations.
The fall of the Berlin Wall restored Europe’s capacity to unite behind shared values. It also enabled our peoples to get to know each other better. The Irish and the Poles have taken full advantage of these opportunities.
Our Nobel Prize Winning Poet, Seamus Heaney, as you may know, is patron of the Ireland-Poland Cultural Foundation. On 1 May 2004, in a poem written to welcome ten European states into the Union, Seamus Heaney spoke of that historic enlargement as a “homecoming”. He was right.
In 1980, I remember seeing the dramatic television pictures of striking workers with their Solidarity flags standing up for their rights. The courage of the Polish workers at that moment was stirring. It made a lasting impression on me and on many thousands of Irish people. Of course, the visit of John Paul II to Ireland in the previous year had already brought Poland and the Polish struggle for freedom very close to our hearts.
Mr. President, we know how fundamentally your country has changed since those dark days. The country you are now visiting is also much changed from the Ireland of the 1980s. We have a new economy and a more diverse society.
There is a new mood, a transformed atmosphere and a restored confidence.
Our membership of the EU is at the heart of Ireland’s progress. Our unique model of social partnership has also played a decisive role in building strong national cohesion about our social as well as our economic goals. The peace process and the ending of political violence in Northern Ireland have also transformed people’s lives. These developments have been a catalyst for economic success here.
Ireland has maximised the benefits of EU membership by working actively with our partners during more than three decades of membership. As we look ahead to Europe’s future in its 50th year, we all know that there are no grounds for complacency. Change has become urgent. Consensus building will be increasingly important in the year ahead as we work to reinvigorate our Union.
We will be looking for a strong and evocative Berlin Declaration which celebrates the Union’s achievements and points the way towards continued success in a changing world.
We will also be returning to the Constitutional Treaty with a view to taking some key decisions about the Union’s future. This is a vital issue in which I know, Mr. President, you take a strong personal interest.
I am in no doubt that we need a Constitutional Treaty. We need to ensure that the EU can continue to serve the people of Europe fully and effectively. We need the Union also to protect our interests on key issues like energy. We must also continue to develop productive links with our neighbours and the wider world. Having been so fully involved in the negotiations, I believe that the Treaty is a vital instrument for shaping Europe’s future.
Ireland’s response to EU enlargement in 2004, in particular the opening up of our labour market, has unlocked a potential for good relations between our peoples which few would have imagined possible.
Polish people who have come to work in Ireland have been a source of great strength for our fast growing economy. Thanks to their skills and talents, we have been able to sustain economic growth at around 5% for the last several years.
A recent labour force survey by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland indicates that immigrants now account for nearly one seventh of new business start-ups in Ireland. This bodes well for the future.
Ireland and Poland have a shared experience of emigration to America. For many Irish people, emigration was a cruel and harsh experience. This recent memory of emigration gives us a determination to ensure that people who come here to work are treated equally under our laws.
We know that some people who have come here have already returned to Poland, and that more will do so in the years ahead. Based on our own experience, we know that the skills emigrants bring home can be a vital catalyst to economic growth and development.
As with the Irish in America, I believe that the fantastic Polish community here will be a source of ever closer relations between Ireland and Poland for generations to come. Tens of thousands of your people now have personal experience of working in Ireland. I hope that the time they spend here will give them a lifelong interest in Ireland and that your community will become a living, thriving bond between our two countries.
I now invite you to raise your glasses to the health and happiness of President Kaczyński and Mrs. Kaczyńska.
ENDS