Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow guests, interns and staff – welcome.
Thank-you for having us here in this beautiful city, the hospitality and kindness of the local people has been overwhelming. From what the rest of the team and myself have already experienced I can confidently state that you have a city to be proud of.
And you know you’re not in Northern Ireland any more when the weather forecast actually comes true. It’s not hard to spot the Irish in this sort of climate.
We’re here on a program which spans beyond the 8 weeks spent here in Washington. For us this is not another academic venture but a life-changing experience, and what an experience it has been thus far.
When translated into our own political context, there is much to be learned from reconciliation in America which can be applied back home. This is why I’m personally looking forward to my internship at the Northern Ireland Bureau.
As I stand before you today our respective countries stand on the brink of profound change. A new direction.
The road up until now has been frought with political deadlock and tragedy.
On the one hand, the United States looks to free itself from its racial stalemate whilst Northern Ireland seeks to bury the corpse of sectarian division.
What has guided progress on both sides is a profound sense of hope.
Bill Clinton came from a town called hope. I’m from a small sea-side town called Kilkeel. My father is from a nearby town called Warrenpoint, where his father – my late grandfather – was the local postmaster. The post office was the family home and during the Troubles it was bombed.
But my family did not allow events to become a pretext to hatred and indeed many throughout the Troubles have shown the remarkable capacity to forgive and move on.
Therefore such prejudices cannot be attributed as generational curses but generational choices. Everyone, regardless of their circumstances, gets to choose for themselves the path they wish to follow.
But for now, enough from myself. Our next speaker who is from Belfast has been following the path of enterprise and investment. Please welcome fellow programme-member Sarah McKegney.
(Sarah Speaks)
Thank-you Sarah. What Sarah has been highlighting to us is the importance of not falling behind in this increasingly globalised world.
Continuing in this trail of thought please welcome Andrew McCullough.
(Andrew Speaks)
Thank-you Andrew
Now our next and final speaker proves the sphere of influence now held by the programme. Please welcome from Longford in the Republic of Ireland, Elaine MacDonald.
(Elaine Speaks)
As you have been hearing the island of Ireland has been moving forward. Much has been invested into Northern Ireland both politically and economically. The politics of fear is slowly but surely bowing the knee to hope.
Hope is colourblind.
It doesn’t matter if it’s green and orange or black and white. In the words of the presumptive deomocratic nomineee, no-one is exempt from the call to find common ground.
And change is not an event, but a process.
And so in the words of our re-appointed Deputy First Minister, there is hard work to be done, step by step by step.
Yet thankfully, following on from the agreement reached at St. Andrews, there is a new path to follow on which to take these steps.
We thank the United States for its support of the peace process and ask that you continue to help where possible. Much has been achieved but there is much to lose without the necesary follow-through.
I leave you with wise words spoken to me as a child: if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.
Thank-you and may God Bless America.
