Downing Street Says » St Patrick’s Day reception

A transcript of a speech given by the Prime Minister at a House of Lords reception to mark St Patrick’s Day on 17 March 2010.

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Can I say what a great pleasure it is to be with you today. There is no celebration that is greater than the celebration that is being had around the world for St Patrick’s Day. There is no celebration that is being held in so many different countries and no celebration that is so marked by the historical experience of the Irish people.

I am so grateful to all of you here today for your contribution to the life of our country, the contribution in sports, in arts, in entertainment, in culture, in business, in literature, in education and in politics. I thank you all for what you do for our country and thank you all for the contribution you make to our culture.

I want to thank in particular the ambassador, Bobby McDonagh, for what he does for the United Kingdom and for relationships between our two countries. I want to thank John Curran for that wonderful speech and I hope he will send by best wishes to the Taoiseach for today, St Patrick’s Day.

Of course this, St Patrick’s Day is very, very special indeed; it is the day in which we commemorate and celebrate the completion of the devolution in Northern Ireland of policing and justice. By completing the devolution of policing and justice we are completing decades of constitutional conflict and with it we are securing a lasting peace. It was hard work and it took many hours of detailed negotiation – some of the people I negotiated with are here today – but most of all it took men and women of courage prepared to forgive the past in the service of the future. I am very proud of all those who have contributed to the success and the conclusion of this devolution process. Today is a chance for us to thank them and to honour their work.

Now, nobody deserves greater credit for this than my friend, Brian Cowen, who brought to the negotiations – during many, many late hours when the difference between night and day didn’t seem to exist at all – great patience, he brought huge tenacity, he brought good humour and he brought great skill.

This settlement would not have happened without the levels of cooperation between the Irish and British governments and particularly the work of the Northern Ireland ministers and the work of Brian Cowen and Miche l Martin. In partnership we have achieved something that people said a few months ago was impossible. Now we look forward to the beginning of April were the devolution of policing and justice will actually be a reality and happening.

If life has taught me anything, it is that what seems impossible sometimes and seems beyond our grasp can actually happen; we can dare to dream in the darkness that things will happen if we bring people together. There are so many stories – the end of apartheid, the end of slavery, the extension of the franchise, the end of segregation – so many stories that prove that people can create their own destinies if they have the courage and if they have the will.

A story I want to share with you today is that of another great Irishman, John F Kennedy. Before he decided to commit the United States to a moon landing, there were those that advised against it; his predecessor had flatly rejected the idea, there were arguments that it cost too much and that the outcome was very uncertain. Even his own science advisor was sceptical of the benefits of space flight. They said, Maybe we can’t,’ but JFK, like all the Kennedys – and I pay tribute to Edward Kennedy today, a great American senator with great Irish roots – when faced with people saying, We can’t do it,’ John Kennedy would always say, You can now.’

Eight years later, when a man stepped out of a lunar module onto the surface of the moon, on that day someone placed a note on the grave of John F Kennedy at Arlington cemetery: Mr President, the eagle has landed.’ John Kennedy’s mission to take America to the moon exemplified and proved this Irish spirit; that we can do it together, that there is nothing beyond us if we are pursuing the greatest of causes. It is in our generation, therefore, that peace will finally come to Ireland, and for all those who showed the courage to make it possible, today must be a when we celebrate their success.

I am delighted also to say that Buckingham Palace has announced yesterday that almost exactly six months from today, his Holy Father the Pope will visit the United Kingdom and I believe that is going to be a most important event for the whole of the United Kingdom.

I want to thank you all very much today, all those who work in so many different spheres of British life, all those who work in so many different communities of our country, all those here to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and to celebrate the contribution that Ireland has made not only to our country but the contribution to the world.

I want to thank you for everything you do. This is a day where we can honour and thank Irish people for their contribution in every walk of life. This is a day where we can celebrate the completion of a process of change in Ireland that will make a difference to the peace and the security of the future, and this is a day where we can celebrate Irish courage at its best. Thank you all very much.

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» Monday, February 17, 0110

St Patrick’s Day reception

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