Strasbourg, 19/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - There is an Irish proverb, "Ninert go cur le chélile", which means "our strength is in partnership": this "could be the motto of the European Union (...) Now a new generation (...) will have a chance to see what great strength is created when fifteen becomes twenty-five, when the restless energy of half a billion people (...) is harnessed to the task of writing Europe's best and happiest chapter yet". These are the words of the President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary McAleese, to the European Parliament on Wednesday, during a formal session which afforded her the opportunity to outline the main priorities of the Irish Presidency, during the first half of 2004. Ms McAleese thanked the European Union for the aid granted to Northern Ireland under its peace and reconciliation programmes, and recalling that elections are due to take place in Northern Ireland on 26 November (having been planned for May: Ed), she paid tribute to MEP John Hume, Nobel Prize winner for his role in reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Ms McAleese, who broke into Irish from time to time, was frequently emotive in her speech, in which she praised the courage of the founding fathers, who "knew the price that had been paid for the birth" of "democratic partnership" in Europe. "It is an infant still, a robust infant but an infant nonetheless in the scheme of human history, and it needs champions to keep reminding us how lucky we are that it was conceived at all. Infanticide by disinterest or neglect is simply not an option" for us, she said.
Speaking of the future of Europe, Ms McAleese stated that Ireland "energetically supported" the determination of the Italian Presidency to conclude the IGC "by next month" (which clearly pleased Secretary of State Roberto Antonione, who was present). The Convention's draft is "a huge step forward", but there are still issues to be "fully debated and finally resolved, including the issue of a reference to God in the preamble of the new Treaty", she specified, adding: "the Irish Government has indicated that it could welcome such an inclusion if consensus can be reached on suitable language".
Along the priorities of the Presidency, Ms McAleese also spoke of enlargement to ten new Member States, negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania with a view to the "target date of 2007 for their accession", and monitoring developments in Turkey, ahead of the "key decisions on opening negotiations, to be taken in December 2004". She also mentioned: - world affairs (with enlargement, the EU will "have even more authority", she noted), observing that "our particular history (...) makes us a specially effective bridge to the United States, home to so many Irish immigrants"; - relations with developing countries, criticising the fact that aid from rich countries has "fallen to unacceptably low levels", a politically "short term" approach in a globalised world. She believes that a key element of Europe's future security strategy should be "the reduction of poverty rather than poverty management"; - the Lisbon process, indicating that the Irish Presidency would concentrate on the "areas which affect our everyday lives".
The President was received by her countryman, Parliament President Pat Cox, who spoke in Irish, "our ancient language which unites all Irish people". Highlighting the fact that opinion polls show Ms McAleese to be Ireland's most popular politician, Mr Cox recalled the theme of her election campaign, six years ago: "building bridges between cultures, communities, people". "Thirty years ago, we started on a journey which has taken us to the heart of Europe", leaving behind "isolation and stagnation", and the forthcoming Irish Presidency will mark the "healing of our divided continent", with enlargement, said Mr Cox. Our Parliament, he told Mary McAleese, is a great proponent of gender equality, and you are an example of the victory of this equality.