Address by An Taoiseach at Quinnipiac University for Honorary Degree Conferral

 

Address by
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D.
Ceremony of Conferral of Honorary Degree

Quinnipiac University
Thursday 24 September 2015

Governor, Dr Lahey, Ambassador, Consul General, Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon to you all.

I’m delighted to be here…..thank you for inviting me.

John Lahey….the journey to be here on this beautiful day in the Connecticut Fall…..started a long time ago.

But you kept the faith……. and considerable patience……..and good humour….. and here we are.

And I’m glad we are…… so that I can pay tribute to you for your vision for education… …and for your supreme dedication to Ireland and the Irish.

John….. you were grand marshal of the St. Patrick's Day parade in 1997.

It was the year we marked the 150th anniversary of the Great Hunger.

You were inspired to reflect on that event and the values and story of 19th century Irish in America…….

They stepped off boats……and they might as well have been stepping into space……. shocked….. hungry……..ill…….confused…….weak……dislocated…….

Home as they knew it…… was somewhere they would probably never see again.

If they were to have a home……. they would have to make it here…..anew……in this alien land.

Christine Kinealy's work “The Great Calamity” inspired and informed and challenged John Lahey……. as it has so many others.

And now, thanks to the generosity of the Lender family, this University now has an institute where scholars can come to debate the complexity, causes and consequences of the Great Hunger….. and under Professor Kinealy's direction.

We live, psychologically, socially even spiritually with its consequences.

And what experience it was… that was lived or endured……..

Not just famine……. but fever, typhoid, dysentery……

Eviction…… mass movement of people…… within the island….. and eventually from its shores……

All of it affecting the politics and future of our small Atlantic island….. and the American continent…..

A million dead.

A million herded onto coffin ships…..

More than three million forced to emigrate in the following 30 years.

Here in the United States, the memory of the great wrong of the Great Hunger fuelled Irish nationalist sentiment and inspired a revolutionary generation.

At home……. it scoured not just the land………but our idea of who we were.

It has made us resilient.

Caring.

Generous.

Ubiquitous across America….with pockets of Irishness…… across the world.

At home…… we are emerging from a turbulent economic time…..that brought shock and pain and loss….to every community……….every family.

Our economy was on the verge of collapse.

Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs…..they faced lives…… where there was no work to go to.

Many of our young people packed their degrees in beside their hopes and ambition……. and once again left our shores to make a future in the UK and Australia and Canada….. and here in the US.

But we faced up to the challenge and we did it together…the government and the people working side by side.

Thanks to the people’s sacrifice……. at last…… we are recovering.

And steadily.

Today, our economy is transformed.

In fact….. we’re the fastest-growing economy in the European Union.

Every day…. we’re creating new, sustainable jobs…..replacing those lost during the crisis.

In terms of our recent emigrants….. our loss….. was America’s gain.

But today we want our young people to come home……

Because they and their children are our future………..

And we want them to have the best…… and be the best….. at home in their own country.

Something that even today……. is denied to so many.

Our friends throughout the United States kept faith and vigil with us in our difficulties.

For that we thank you.

Tomorrow, I will have the honour of addressing the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the people of Ireland. This will be one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in history, as we launch a shared blueprint for sustainable development for the next 15 years.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals will set out how all the nations of the world will work together to end extreme poverty and hunger. To make sure all of our people live in peaceful and stable societies.

To make sure we protect the planet we call home.

It is matter of pride to us that Ireland was asked to co-facilitate these important negotiations with Kenya.

Give our history Ireland is particularly attuned to the experiences of the men, women and children currently seeking refuge in Europe.

In our generational memory….. we know what it is like to flee…….. to be forced to leave everything…and start anew…….. with new people……..in a new place….

We know what it is like not alone to seek refuge……. but to long for a kind look……a kind word…….. recognition…..of our dignity…….our shared humanity.

Ireland is working with the EU to make sure we help as many of these people as possible. We cannot and we will not look away.

Already our naval vessels are on rescue missions in the Mediterranean. Across our country there was been an outpouring of compassion and practical help.

These are people motivated not by cheap sentimentality but by real sentiment…..sentiment that recognises in men, women and children….. that we are quite literally…….’kind’.

That is why at zones of conflict across the world it is an Irish hand that keeps the peace.

It is why in areas of famine….. it is an Irish voice that brings hope and comfort.

It is Ireland is absolutely committed to leading the fight against global hunger.

Why we will continue to focus our aid on the poorest countries in Africa.

Yes……we are a small island of just six million people. But 70 million people around the world who identify as Irish are a force to be reckoned with

Here in Connecticut one in five is of Irish heritage.

And that heritage….and the pride and hope at its heart……. is what brings us here today.

I want to say a warm thank you to Quinnipiac University for this honorary degree.

I accept it proudly in memory and honour of the million men, women and children……… who lost their lives in the great Hunger.

I accept it in the name of the millions more who sought refuge and made a new home in the United States and elsewhere.

And I accept it in honour of the thousands and thousands of Irish people….. who set sail across the Atlantic…….. in search of new life……. only to meet early death……and committal to the ocean….

Every time I make the transatlantic journey……..I remember them.

As I know….. do you.

The institute here keep the flame of their memory alive.

A flame that burns….eternally……. as a symbol of hope……comfort…….. the possibility of deliverance…….and redemption.

May it be a beacon…… of humanity….. to the world…….

And ‘of the measures destined for our soul’.

Gaudeamus igitur.