ambassador's outreacH
Ambassasdor Foley's Remarks at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Business Dinner: Dublin Castle: May 29, 2007. |
I am very pleased to be here tonight to celebrate the achievements made by the people of Ireland, North and South, and by the Irish and British Governments in finally implementing the Good Friday agreement on May 8.
The successes in the peace process that I have observed during my first half-year in Ireland have been extraordinary. I watched Sinn Fein endorse policing. Ian Paisley sat at the same table as Gerry Adams for the first time to announce an agreement on the restoration of Stormont. The photos of the exuberant handshake between the Taoiseach and Mr. Paisley on April 4 recorded a political watershed. On May 8, in Belfast, I witnessed the restoration of Stormont. And on May 15, Bertie Ahern became the first Taoiseach to address the joint houses of the British Parliament. The first half of 2007 in Ireland has been historical indeed.
An incredible amount of work and courage has gone into the realization of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the landmark event underpinning the success of the Northern Ireland peace process. Mr. Paisley and Mr. Adams, together with their many colleagues in the unionist and republican ranks, deserve our admiration for their leadership and risk taking. Many others played key roles, most notably Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, without whose leadership we would not be where we are today.
In an OP-ED I wrote for the Irish Times recently I noted the important role that statesmanship, a disappearing art, played in the peace process. I cited Mssrs Ahern and Blair as well as the first U.S. envoy, George Mitchell as impressive practitioners of statesmanship. The peace process in the North has brought out the best in many of the individuals and institutions involved.
First, I am proud that the U.S. from time to time produces men and women having the talent, patience, and fortitude of a George Mitchell. I was also proud that the U.S. performed effectively both as an honest broker and an advocate for the peace process. These are challenging roles to fulfill simultaneously - particularly over a 10-year period that included shifting political dynamics and a change in U.S. administrations.
Another institution that played an important supporting role is Glencree. Sharing a common commitment with the U.S. of establishing peace, and able to serve as neutral territory, Glencree helped the process move forward many times and on many levels.
So, we have a lot to celebrate, and many people and institutions deserve our praise. But what we have achieved so far is in some respects only a beginning. There still remain many challenges in the North. There may also be opportunities to take the peace machine on the road.
A major challenge in the North- governance - lies ahead. Just as in marriage, the real work starts after the words "I do".
The biggest challenges to the new government are economic growth and developing programs for community reconciliation and integration, particularly among young people. Both challenges warrant and may require the same levels of dialogue and energy that have sustained the peace process over the last decade.
The importance of the economy in obtaining support for the new government is summed-up in the deceptively simple, but insightful, mantra from the 1992 U.S. Presidential campaign - "It's the economy, stupid."
With the economy, the south has shown the way from a policy and leadership point of view, but stickier economic challenges lurk in the North. The economic and political history of the north have created a very large public sector and a dependency culture, both of which will have to be replaced with a vibrant and growing private sector and more of a risk taking culture. The economic benefits seen in the south will only come about in the North after this transition is achieved.
Just as important as the economy, is community reconciliation and integration. In fact, these will require more statesmanship and leadership than the economy because community reconciliation and integration are more politically charged and there is less hard science to show us the way forward. This is an area where Glencree and the U.S. can play important roles. Glencree has established the relationships, skills, and credibility to provide valuable assistance and the U.S., because of its own integration experience, can surely provide some light and direction as the North embarks on its own integration journey.
Looking beyond the North, it would be a shame if the Irish experience with conflict resolution isn't taken "on the road". There are hundreds of people and institutions, Glencree being perhaps the most notable, where experience and capacity acquired through the peace process in the North can be applied to other conflicts around the world. Glencree has been doing that for some time, but the recent success in the North helps highlight Glencree's effectiveness and "street cred" in the peacemaking community.
You would think that with all the economic and conflict resolution success in Ireland, money would be pouring in to support and sustain the people and institutions responsible for this success. In fact, the opposite is true. As economic success has waxed and conflict has waned, traditional financial assistance for Ireland has declined. For example, funding for the International Fund for Ireland has steadily declined in recent years and is scheduled to phase out altogether in 2010. Over 23 years, the U.S. government will have contributed some $500 million through the International Fund for Ireland for reconciliation programs in the North and border counties.
Another example is The Ireland Fund which was awash with U.S. and other international charitable support ten years ago for philanthropic projects in Ireland. Both the International Fund for Ireland and the Ireland Fund are finding it hard to maintain historical levels of support with prosperity breaking out all over Ireland and the violence gone. People overseas are assuming the problems are fewer and Ireland now has the capability to generate its own support for charitable activities and institutions domestically through personal and corporate philanthropy.
The generosity of individuals and corporations lead by business people such as you will determine how important a role Ireland and Irish organizations like Glencree will play in the North and globally the future. Being Irish, I have no doubt the people on this Island will rise to that challenge, and as they do Ireland will gain a new and well-deserved role in global leadership.
Thank you.
