PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins warned yesterday against complacency and “a false comfort zone of amnesia” where the Northern Ireland peace process was concerned.
He emphasised that those “with malign agendas” must not be allowed “rewrite history and perversely undermine” the progress that had been made.
That was “why it is so important that the forthcoming decade of centenary commemorations is used in a way that genuinely deepens our understanding of our shared past”.
The President was speaking at a North-South garden party in the grounds of Áras an Uachtarain to mark July 12th.
The attendance included members of the Orange Order from the Republic, as well as a preponderance of representatives from social, civic and cultural groups and some academics from North and South.
Master of ceremonies RTÉ’s Áine Lawlor said it was “the twelfth 12th of July” at Áras an Uachtarain “celebrating the diversity of our Irishness”.
Speaking to The Irish Times, President Higgins described it as “a very important event” and as “a deepening of the peace process”.
The greater emphasis on cultural as opposed to political representation yesterday was “quite deliberate”, he said.
“I wanted to move it on ... beyond the Good Friday agreement.” It was “the next phase, and a deepening of the partnership”.
His recent visit to Northern Ireland, to a Co-Operation Ireland event where Queen Elizabeth shook hands with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, was his sixth there since becoming President, he said.
He is to undertake a two-week trip to South America in October, during which he will visit Chile, Brazil and Argentina. He will be accompanied by a delegation from Enterprise Ireland. He said “the Government is very anxious” that the trip take place.
In September he will hold a reception for Irish Olympians and para-Olympians at the Áras, while the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, will represent Ireland at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in London on July 27th.
Towards the end of September he will present findings from his consultations on being young and Irish at Áras an Uachtarain, while in November he will undertake his third working trip to the UK, this time visiting Liverpool and Manchester.
