Annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration, Bodenstown, Co. Kildare

Posted on 18/10/09 by Brian Cowen

A Airí Rialtais;

A Theachtaí Dála;

A Sheanadóirí;

A Chomhairleoirí;

A Mhuintir Fhianna Fáil,

Chuir Éirí Amach seacht déag nócha hocht tús leis an gcoimhlint a chruthaigh Stát neamhspleách d’Éirinn. Inniu táimid bailithe le chéile le homós a léiriú d’fhir agus mhná na nÉireannach Aontaithe, dream a raibh fís acu maidir le Éirinn a bheadh daonlathach agus cothrom.

Bá é Theobald Wolfe Tone atá curtha anseo ceannaire na nÉireannaigh Aontaithe.

Thírghráthóir fial a d’fhulaing go mór agus a bhásaigh ar son shaoirse na hÉireann mar go raibh an oiread grá aige don tír.

Tá fréamhacha ár Pháirtí le fáil i stair phoblachtánach na hÉireann agus beidh omós againn go deo do chrógacht, d’fhís agus do dhílseacht laochra náisiúnta mar Theobald Wolfe Tone.

We assemble here today on one of the most significant anniversaries in Irish history. On this date, 18th October, in 1791, the Society of United Irishmen was formed in Belfast. This is a red-letter date in our history. The United Irishmen were the first modern separatist group on this island and their progressive and egalitarian spirit remains a strong force in the Irish Republican tradition.

The demand of the United Irishmen was an independent, pluralist republic. William Drennan, a Belfast Presbyterian, was the most important source of United Irish ideas. Others like John and Henry Sheares, Samuel Neilson, Oliver Bond, Thomas Russell and Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey all made a noble contribution to moulding a movement whose goal was to set aside the sectarian divisions which have afflicted so much of our history and to lead Ireland towards a modern republic.

The United Irishmen were ardent patriots. Napper Tandy said their key aim was “to make all Irishmen citizens and all citizens Irishmen.” But the aspirations of the United Irishmen stretched far beyond an Irish republic independent of Britain. Stella Tillyard, in her biography of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, records that the type of republic they wanted to achieve was :

“an inclusive one, based on an Enlightenment commitment to rights. It was a republic that would be tolerant, ecumenical and democratic.”

Today, it is proper that we remember with pride the United Irishmen as the founding fathers of an inspirational political philosophy. They set in train a positive agenda for equality, unity and human rights which for this Party remains instructive to this very day.

We are putting that agenda into practice every day in government.

Two hundred years after the death of Wolfe Tone, the historic achievement that was the Good Friday Agreement marked a turning point in the history of Ireland.

The next step on that journey is the completion of the devolution of policing and justice to the elected representatives in Northern Ireland. I hope and believe that crucial next step will soon be taken.

Now, day by day, we see the fruits of the Agreement of 1998.

The island of Ireland is being transformed.

There is an unprecedented level of co-operation between North and South - in health, in education, in transport, in infrastructure development, in culture, in sport, in tourism and trade promotion and in combating the economic crisis.

There is also an unparalleled level of engagement and mutual respect between the two great traditions on our island. Earlier this week, I was proud to bring together representatives of civil society, from all strands of opinion both North and South, to explore how they can work together with government to tackle the new challenges we face today.

I was able to tell them that we faced these new challenges from an immeasurably stronger position than in previous times - a position of peace and partnership on our island.

There remain a tiny minority who remain deaf to the will of the Irish people and blind to the unalterable peaceful path of our history.

These people are sometimes called dissident republicans, but they are no such thing. They are evil murderers whose actions and objectives could not be further removed from the republican ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity.

We saw their evil earlier this year with the murders of a police officer and two soldiers. Once more, this week, they have used violence and the threat of violence against the people of this island.

An attack on any one of us, North or South, is an attack on all of us - an attack on all of the people of Ireland.

The people of Ireland have spoken - in 1998 and in every democratic election since.

They have declared for peace and for reconciliation and they will triumph.

In recent weeks we have seen a defining moment in this country’s participation in the European Union. I would like to take this opportunity once again to thank our entire membership and the many other individuals and organisations who campaigned vigorously for a YES vote. Across the political spectrum, the social partners and civil society, we had a united show of strength, where commitment to the national interest overcame sectoral or partisan interest. It is gratifying to see what can be achieved when we put the greater good first.

The expression of the will of the Irish people on the 2nd of October is the final element of the democratic process on the Treaty across the European Union, under the individual constitutional arrangements of each Member State. It is now time for the Treaty to come into force, so that the more effective, more efficient and more democratic European Union that we want and need can be allowed to function.

In the months and years ahead, we face enormous policy issues on the global stage: getting our economies back on track, arresting and reversing the decline in employment, tackling climate change and combating international crime, to mention a few. The generations who went before us, who saw membership of what we now know as the European Union as vital to our national interest, may not have known with certainty what the biggest challenges of the 21st century would be. But they certainly knew that Ireland’s future would be shaped by wider events and fora, and that our interests would be best served and protected by us taking our place among the nations, working in solidarity and common cause with our neighbours. How right they were.

Today we gather in troubled economic times. Our Republic has come a long way in recent years. We have reached heights Tone and his comrades could never have imagined. But now those gains are at risk. We must ensure for all our sakes that we protect them to the greatest possible extent and adjust to the new set of circumstances and then forge on with national progress when the world economy lifts again.

The right to self determination is not just a matter of political status or legal form. It is ultimately about our duty and capacity to take decisions to shape our own future. If a country becomes unsustainably indebted, it puts itself at the mercy of its creditors.

Let there be no mistake; our hard won sovereignty now depends on our having the wisdom and courage to take the necessary decisions which will secure the financial stability of our State and the economic wellbeing of our people.

These decisions will be taken in the context of the most serious crisis in our public finances. The simple facts of our dilemma are easily understood by every citizen and every household. The gap between revenue and spending has increased dramatically. This must be addressed firmly and effectively. The trend must be stopped. The public finances must be stabilised. We must implement a clear path beyond stability to a sustainable low deficit. We must minimise the amount of tax we spend on servicing debt. We must restore confidence in our fiscal solvency among our citizens and our investors alike.

This is a challenge we must all face together. In the words of the recent report from the National Economic and Social Council, no economic or social interest can absent itself from the effort to achieve stability and begin recovery. No economic or social interest can be beyond the scope of the painful adjustments which are now required. And these adjustments must not only be effective; they must be fair in the allocation of the burden, and they must be consistent with our long term interest as an economy and society.

The task of government in this time of trial is not only about taking the right decisions, and taking them quickly. It is also about demonstrating to our people why these decisions are necessary, and how they will secure their best interests. We must communicate our analysis and the need for the measures which are to be implemented over coming weeks and months. The Social Partners have made a major contribution to building a participative democracy imbued with a sense of the common good. They too have a role to play in this period of unprecedented challenge. The mass media are also part of this society, and have their own responsibility to inform and support necessary action, as well as criticising what they see to be wrong. All of the members of the Oireachtas have a responsibility to contribute to fair and balanced debate and to put deliberation on behalf of the people above the easy route of partisan advantage.

Every one of us is aware that how we respond to the challenges facing us will shape Ireland’s future for years to come. And as we pause here today to pay respect to those who gave so much for our freedom, we should consider why they did so.

What was the thinking behind the search for independence? What motivated them to work so tirelessly and selflessly and make the sacrifices they did. It was this. It was a vision of the people we could become and the country we could build on this island of Ireland.

A country that had the freedom to pursue its own course for its own people.

A fair egalitarian society, one where ambition and enterprise is rewarded, where difference is tolerated, where the weak are supported.

A society that could embrace and express its own culture freely and share that distinctive culture with the world.

We owe so much to the people we honour today for beginning our journey to that visionary Republic. And as we honour them, we also remember the countless men and women down through the generations since then, who in their way contributed to the cause so that we can live in freedom today.

Today it is us who carry their torch and even though we are facing challenges in the days and months ahead, their spirit, the strength of their vision and the generosity of their sacrifices should inform our actions.

All of us in the Government know our responsibility and the job we must do. We accept that role of leadership today, and that doing the right thing for our economic future is the duty we must discharge.

We are a proud Republican Party and that is why we will put the common good of all of the people of this Republic above all else.

Our approach is paying dividends and in recent days we have taken defining decisions which will underpin our recovery. Securing a Yes vote in the Lisbon Treaty. Renewing our Programme for Government. And progressing on course the enactment and implementation of the NAMA legislation.

But there is more to do. The biggest challenge is in front of us. Framing and passing the upcoming Budget. Put simply, it is a vital step to our future survival and recovery.

The decisions we take, as a Government, will be based on our ethos and values as a Republican Party.

• Decisions will be based on fairness and equity. Those who can bear it most will contribute most.

• The vulnerable in society will be protected as much as possible.

• All areas of public expenditure have to be looked at. Otherwise those who depend on public services would be asked to take too large a burden of the adjustment that is necessary at this time.

• To restore the economy, to provide employment and to ensure we are in a position to avail of worldwide recovery, we will also reward those who take risks to create investment and jobs.

The whole purpose of our politics must be about confronting the challenges before the country and moving forward from this position, rather than advocating policies that fail to address the new reality as it is.

In conclusion, on this the day of their formation more than two centuries ago, it is appropriate to refer to the aims of the United Irishmen. Their Address stated:

“We gladly look forward to brighter prospects; to a people united in the fellowship of freedom; to a parliament the express image of the people; to a prosperity established on civil, political and religious liberty; to a peace - not the gloomy and precarious stillness of men brooding over their wrongs; but that stable tranquillity, which rests on the rights of human nature.”

Those aims are noble ones. Their realisation is our objective. And Fianna Fáil will continue to pursue that path with vigour and determination in the critical days and weeks ahead.