Speech by An Taoiseach at Theobald Wolfe Tone Commemoration

For many years after he was laid to rest in this solemn place, Theobald Wolfe Tone was a neglected and increasingly forgotten figure from a moment in Irish history which many saw as a tragedy.

 

The years after 1798 were dark ones for those who believed in an independent Irish state. The defeat of the Rebellion was followed by suppression and exile. The parliament in College Green was abolished, and the voice of Ireland became ever weaker.

 

When Thomas Davis visited here in 1843, he came in search of ideals to express a more ambitious ideal for Irish nationhood – ideals which could aspire to overcome sectarianism and provide a vision for a shared future. This he found in the life and work of the father of Irish republicanism.

 

From that point onwards Tone has been an essential touchpoint and inspiration.

 

For Fianna Fáil, respect for Tone and honouring his resting place has been a duty we have accepted from the first days after our foundation a hundred years ago.

In those days we were led by a remarkable generation whose names resounded with honour following their service for the cause of Irish republicanism in 1916 and the years of struggle afterwards.

 

For de Valera, Lemass, Markiewicz and the others who founded our party, Tone was someone whose life and ideals remained a source of guidance and inspiration.

This was because of his advocacy for a republicanism which would be non-sectarian and forward-looking.Which would look for ways to unite Irish people rather than divide them.

 

Tone inspired not because he was another voice for an ancient tradition, but because he helped imagine a new one. A tradition which at least aspired to overcoming old conflicts and seeking points of unity rather than victory.

 

Raised a Protestant at a time of great optimism for the then Ascendancy, Tone came to reject the idea that he and his generation should be loyal to the interests and history of their group.

 

For Tone, Protestants and Dissenters were every bit as Irish as Catholics – and that they could all share a diverse culture and history. Not one single history, but a shared history.

 

In fact, it was Protestants of Tone’s generation who took dramatic steps to preserve Celtic and Gaelic history and culture.

 

Ba í glúin Theobald Wolfe Tone a chuir tús le hiarrachtaí chun gnéithe luachmhara riachtanacha dár gcultúr agus dár stair náisiúnta a chaomhnú.

 

Bhí an dearcadh daonnachais céanna seo a spreag na hÉireannaigh Aontaithe le feiceáil i dtograí eile chun deimhin a dhéanamh de nár chailleamar ár stair ársa chomh maith lenár stair cheolmhar agus liteartha.

 

Bhí Protastúnaigh mar Tone freagrach as go leor de cheol na gceantar tuaithe in Éirinn a bhreacadh síos chomh maith le ŧéacsanna Gaeilge a chaomhnú. Ina theannta sin chuir siad deireadh le scrios agus díothú na ndéantán Ceilteacha.

 

Tá an bailiúchán Ceilteach ar fáil in Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann curtha le chéile ar dtús le linn na laethanta sin agus úsáideadh é chun a léiriú do dhaoine ar fud an domhain go raibh cultúr ar leith agus luachmhar ag Éirinn i gcónaí.

 

Ní mór dúinn cuimhneamh go bhfuil ár dteanga agus ár gcultúr ag an bpointe is láidre nuaiir a chuirimid deireadh le deighilt chun daoine a nascadh le chéile- nuair a spreagann siad daoine chun teacht le chéile agus comhoibiú le chéile.

 

Chonaiceamar é sin go soiléir i slí iontach dearfach spleodrach ar shráideanna Bhéal Feirste le linn Fhleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

 

Tá dualgas orainn gach rud ar féidir linn a dhéanamh chun an fhís iontach, neamhpháirtí polaitiúil, neamhsheicteach d'Éirinn a chur chun cinn.

 

Different parts of Tone’s family had come to Ireland because of the Cromwellian settlements and the religious wars in France. He did not reject this history, but he also didn’t wish to keep alive the fears and resentments of former times.

 

In this he was very similar to the most widely read Irish historian of those times, John Curry, a Catholic seeking with others to find new ways forward for his community.

 

When looking back at the course of Irish history, and its use in political debates, Curry warned against what he believed was the sectarian tactic of seeking to “oppress the living through the abuse of the dead”.

Tone wrote of different traditions: “the depression and slavery of Ireland was produced and perpetuated by the divisions existing between them.”

His famous quote concerning his desire to “substitute the common name of Irishman in place of the denominations Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter” is rightly remembered as a powerful statement of his anti-sectarianism.

 

What is less widely remembered is that immediately before this he said that he wished “to abolish the memory of all past dissensions.”

Time and again Tone and others called on people to respect history but to avoid using it to feed the divisions of today.

 

If we keep revisiting the same ways of describing each other – if we never move the narrative onwards – how can we ever finally overcome the cycle of division which has scarred our island for so long?

 

It is a sad reality that there are many who claim to honour Tone’s republican vision, but who are not willing to actually listen to what he said about putting loyalty to your own group first and keeping alive past dissensions and resentments.

 

Many who define themselves as republicans reject the call to challenge yourself and step outside the comfort of believing that it is only the others who need to change.

 

True republicanism can never be about victory over other groups within the nation. It must be about the victory of an inclusive ideal founded on respect and engagement.

 

When we succeeded in securing the Good Friday Agreement it marked a moment of great hope and expectation. It helped bring to an end an illegitimate sectarian conflict and provided the first ever agreed blueprint for relationships within and between these islands.

 

As Seamus Mallon put it, the Agreement was “a new dispensation”.

 

It was the end of one era and the opening of a new one. A new era which fell to all of us to shape.

 

Yet too often in the last three decades we have seen old disputes reopened; and a continued cycle of collapse and failure to work for the reconciliation without which conflict is always a threat.

 

There has been a recent growth in aggressive criticism of anyone who argues that reconciliation is the foundation for achieving anything.

 

Recent events in relation to the parade in Portadown have damaged everyone.

 

As I said clearly at the time, there was no logic behind reopening an issue which everyone felt had been dealt with.

 

It is absolutely right to say that there can be no going back to the days of escalating conflict around parades.

 

The problem for everyone is that there are those who genuinely don’t seem to understand that how they behave means that as well as no going back, there is no going forward either.

 

When confronted with a situation like this, people who are interested in uniting communities don’t call for a reckoning, they call for a dialogue.

 

When you look back at how the Good Friday Agreement was reached and eventually implemented, nothing could have been achieved if this approach had been followed.

 

There would be no Agreement if the approach of angry denunciations and constant public comments had been followed by those who led the negotiations.

 

This is something that appears to have been forgotten by some who have participated in many negotiations but have never led one, and who favour collapsing institutions rather than deal with the toughest decisions required to make them really work.

 

Over more than a decade, the Dublin government, particularly under the leaderships of Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern, followed a policy of relentlessly seeking opportunities to tone down confrontations.

 

They refused to jump into every argument – and absolutely rejected the idea that defending the interests of nationalists meant escalating disputes.

 

They built a strong relationship with the British government which delivered historic progress for Ireland.

 

Central to this was trust that discussions could be honest and confidential – and they never ran to the media in order to try to gain a tactical advantage.

 

Over the years, this constructive, deep engagement has been at the root of every piece of progress and every problem overcome.

 

I for one will not abandon it.

 

I will never accept the demand of angry partisan commentators that we move away from an approach which has delivered and follow their lead in aggressive advocacy.

 

It is striking how often people who claim to want to unite the people of Ireland spend their time personally attacking people who disagree with their approach.

 

If you claim to want to build an inclusive republic which respects diverse opinions and traditions your first duty is to start showing some respect to other opinions and traditions.

 

The most important thing we need is to identify shared interests – and learn to work together without filtering every single discussion through the lens of one future vote.

 

Speeches are easy. Getting together with people who agree with you to talk about the many ways in which you are right is reassuring.

 

Claiming that if your side wins, everything will be great and no one will have to sacrifice anything certainly makes life comfortingly simple.

 

What it doesn’t do is change anything.

 

What’s much harder, is to do something which will actually shape the future.

 

The Shared Island Initiative is the largest programme of investing in shared understanding and development in our history. That some people seem to be frustrated or annoyed by this reflects on them rather than the work the Initiative is implementing.

 

Building bridges and roads to connect communities and support development is transformative work. So too is investment in education, health services and local development.

 

But just as important as this is the major body of new research which we are funding to understand similarities and differences North and South.

 

This is fundamental work, for example a new report with definitive statistics on economics, employment and earnings.

 

The Initiative is going to continue to accelerate its work. It is going to build on the fact that its work is widely accepted by people as being central to prosperity, irrespective of where they stand on political and constitutional issues.

 

Separately from the Initiative there are other actions required, particularly to build a much greater understanding of the issues which are relevant to deciding on constitutional changes.

 

Too many people are making casual assumptions about what is required – or are dismissing the idea that there are any hard choices.

 

In fact, one of the most damaging developments we have seen recently is the claim that all we need is a White Paper and a Citizen’s Assembly and everything will work itself out.

 

This is exactly the type of approach which is unlikely to secure the change of public opinion required to make a vote likely or winnable.

 

Partition was a disaster. It made both parts of our island less diverse and less successful. And crucially, it has led to over a century of divergence in social, economic, educational, health, legal and other areas.

 

We make a lot of assumptions about each other, but the levels of engagement North and South have been very limited.

 

True republicans aren’t focused on winning a fight; they are focused on the society and state which can be built.

 

To be able to make any credible claims about the future – and to set out the hard sacrifices and real opportunities of any change – there must be a base of genuinely trustworthy information which can stand up to critical challenge.

 

Part of this is to recognise that, at a minimum, the basic logic and framework of the Good Friday Agreement will remain essential in all reasonable scenarios.

 

The three different relationships addressed by the Agreement will continue.

 

So, it is important for people to realise that making these relationships work is important for everyone.

 

For this party, this is positive, democratic republicanism at work.

 

It is not about seeking to legitimise past disputes – but focusing on the future.

 

It is not about victory over any section of our people – but genuine and lasting unity among all our people.

 

And part of this is that we will also continue our absolute commitment to the idea of close, rules-based cooperation with other European nations as part of a strong European Union.

 

Tone’s internationalism was clear – and the entire vision of his republicanism was based on a nation which asserted solidarity and not superiority over others.

 

We can all see that a very different type of nationalism is rising in the modern world. Groups who seek to appropriate and misuse national symbols are more common than they have been since the Second World War.

 

Intolerance and extremism are a very real threat – and we are seeing the European Union itself being targeted.

 

There is no question where Ireland stands and where it must continue to stand.

 

A democratic European nation like Ukraine must continue to have our support.

 

In our Presidency of the European Council, we are working with others on a challenging but positive agenda which addresses both immediate and long-term issues.

 

In this we are being true to the internationalism of Tone and of our greatest leaders like Eamon de Valera and Seán Lemass who believed that the welfare of the Irish people required values-based cooperation with other countries.

 

Because of Theobald Wolfe Tone, Irish republicanism was founded on a positive vision of leaving disputes in the past, constructing a shared future and always working to serve the common interest.

 

It is a proud inheritance.

 

It is an inheritance which challenges us to not just remember people and deeds, but to honour their demand that we work to build a unity which leaves behind old disputes and is based on understanding and respect.