Address by Mr Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, to the Conference on EU enlargement at Dublin Castle today.
Taoiseach,
President Prodi,
Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ócáid speisialta agus stairiúil atá inniu ann. Le tamall beag anuas, is gnáthúil don Teach againne, Parlaimint na hEorpa, guth na nua-comhaltaí a chloisteáil, go díreach mar is cóir dúinn ag am forleathnú ilchríochach na hEorpa. Inniu lá na míle fáilte roimh na nua-saoránaigh eorpaigh, á céiliúradh i mo thír féin, ballstát an Aontais le tríocha bhlian anuas, a bhfuil a ceachtaí agus taithí, idir garbh agus mín réidh, sóláirithe aici, agus a rinne "Eorpaigh éireannacha" asainn.
I am very pleased to address you today on behalf of the European Parliament, which has, already since May of last year, included Observers from the new Member States. It is a source of a great pride to me, as an Irish European, that when the new Europe is born, it should be born in Dublin.
This new continent-wide Europe, stretching from Dublin in the west to Lublin in the east, from the Connemara to Latgale, is witness to the success of the new Member States and those societies which have undergone a radical transformation over the last 15 years. It is also the result of the determined and consistent effort by successive Presidencies, Member States and the European institutions, who have overcome obstacles on the road and provided sustained leadership for the earliest possible enlargement.
Fifty years ago a generation of European leaders, after a devastating war that divided our continent, saw all too clearly what was, but were prepared to dream of what could be. They had the courage of their European convictions. They opened for Europe a pathway to creative reconciliation and progress which none had walked before. We are the beneficiaries of that legacy and of their foresight. With the ceremony today we give a new meaning, a new raison d'être to and a new vindication of that vision.
I acknowledge today the leadership and determination of peoples and successive governments in the new member states. Today the transforming generation of leaders is awarded a glittering prize.
Now a new challenge faces leaders to spread the benefits of accession, to use the access to markets to engender prosperity and prepare for entry into the EMU. To achieve this, the new members need to be able to count on the solidarity of others.
The new member states will now be firmly anchored in the community of values, which inform and permeate the public purpose of the Union. Their rightful place at the heart of this community will also give them new confidence, new dynamism, which will generate positive effects on the whole Union.
In time, it will help us to rediscover of the spirit of 1989, that annus mirabilis, which has since yielded in some places to feelings of uncertainty, and some economic hardship. The dynamic young societies of many member states, their courage to transform, their entrepreneurial spirit will, I hope, help us all to strengthen the dynamic of the Union itself and reinforce its global role, including and perhaps especially towards our new neighbours in the South and in the East.
Robert Schuman once wrote that an Irish saint, Saint Columbanus, was "the patron saint of those who seek to construct a united Europe". I recall the story because in the sixth and early part of the seventh century this abbott, poet, scholar and preacher - not the only Irish one to so do - co-founded western monasticism in early medieval Europe, travelling among the Franks, the Swabians, and the Lombards. His remains today lie and are celebrated still in Bobbio in Italy, where I made a personal pilgrimage some few days ago.
One thousand four hundred years ago, this early Irish European, in a letter exhorting the Pope to 'arise from his sleep', described the Irish as ultimi habitatores mundi, - the inhabitants of the world's edge. It is a powerful message that his life has given to the enlarging Europe. His is an inclusive message, for a Europe which is home to all its peoples and to all its citizens.