Speech
Speech of An Taoiseach, St Columb’s College Past Pupil’s Union dinner to award Mark Durkan the Alumnus Illustrissimus Award
From Department of the Taoiseach
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From Department of the Taoiseach
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"A dhaoine uaisle, a Mhéir, College Principal Finbar Madden, President of the Past Pupils' Union, Brian Doherty.
I’m delighted to join you this evening as we mark another milestone in the history of this great school and pay tribute to one of your former students who helped reshape the future of this island.
St Columb’s College has a heritage and a history that is unparalleled across Ireland. There are many great schools but I’m not aware of any that can boast of having two Nobel Prize winners, not to mention the current manager of the Republic of Ireland football team; several international musicians; many local and national politicians; and a Primate of all Ireland. That is quite a roll call!
One of your two Nobel Laureates, Seamus Heaney, discussed the idea of ‘ladders of the future’ in his poem on the aftermath of Trojan War. It’s a lovely image because it has multiple meanings.
It’s how I think of education – something that provides ladders of opportunity to enable people of all ages to achieve their potential. It’s what St. Columb’s has been providing for almost one hundred and fifty years. And, because of it, you have helped this city and this island reach a better future.
Thank you.
I also believe we need ladders to the future to help achieve genuine and lasting peace and reconciliation on our island.
That was the vision of your other Nobel Laureate, John Hume. He wanted an Ireland where men and women would live for ideals, rather than fight for them, and would see ‘each and every person as worthy of respect and honour’.
And, of course, he was helped in this work by his wife and partner, Pat, who we should also recognise tonight.
John Hume’s vision is one we are still working to achieve. Perhaps even to rescue in these uncertain times.
Dear friends, tonight, we gather together to honour someone who devoted his life to that.
Someone who will rightly take his place among your Hall of Fame.
A towering figure in Irish politics: Mark Durkan.
It is fitting that we pay tribute to him here, because it was here in the corridors of St Columb’s where Mark’s leadership talents were formed.
These experiences served him well when he went to Queen’s University Belfast, and was elected Deputy President of the Student’s Union. And again when he went on to serve two terms as Deputy President of USI, the Union of Students of Ireland.
However the call of Derry was too powerful, and it brought him home in the early eighties to work for John Hume.
As you know, over the next 20 years, Mark was a pivotal figure in the SDLP. A trusted aide and adviser, a political strategist and organiser. Few were surprised when he followed in John’s footsteps as Party Leader and as MP for Foyle. A voice now sorely absent in the House of Commons at this critical time for both countries.
Of course, there was another important strategic alliance that was forged in John Hume’s office during those years – between Mark and the young Jackie Green!
Jackie has been at the centre of Mark’s career - helping him at home and in his constituency offices- and I was delighted to have the opportunity this evening to meet Jackie and their daughter, Dearbhaile.
Mark and Jackie epitomise the spirit of public service. They often had no choice! Mark’s advice was so invaluable that when they got married twenty-five years ago, Mark was dragged away by John Hume because he wanted to discuss the peace process with him!
He was alongside Hume as he took the courageous step to initiate the Hume-Adams talks.
He was central to the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement. And he kept a laser-like focus on bringing the talks to a successful conclusion.
Under his direction the SDLP showed immense leadership to enable the transformation of policing. And I am so pleased that we have a former PSNI officer lead our transformation in policing south of the border.
Mark served as Deputy First Minister in the often tumultuous period leading up to the 2003 suspension of the Assembly.
Throughout all of these challenging times, Mark’s calm determination and his unshakeable belief in what was right and just, sustained him and delivered results for all of the people of Northern Ireland.
We politicians always wonder how we will be remembered by history.
When Mark took over the leadership of the Party he was praised by a leading journalist who said that, quote, ‘it is hard to think of a less ego-driven politician’. It’s the essence of his character, and it’s what makes him a great politician.
I’ll give just one example of his commitment to public service and his lack of ego.
In June 2010, when David Cameron issued his apology to the Bloody Sunday families, Mark chose to be at Westminster to represent his constituents. He knew that Derry was for the families that day.
He represented the people of Derry by standing in the House of Commons, reading out the names of those who had died, to welcome the fact that they were exonerated, to declare that the families could stand proud and say ‘We have overcome’.
At this point in time, while politics here is so fragmented, while Brexit continues to present enormous challenges, I can’t help but think that Ireland needs more leaders like Mark. As Taoiseach, I wish I had more like him.
The Good Friday Agreement was the product of decades of patient and dedicated work from all sides, from politicians, officials, civil society and clergy. Twenty years on, we now face a new challenge to ensure the restoration and effective operation of all the institutions of the Good Friday.
The Government firmly believes that the restoration of a locally elected and accountable Assembly and Executive is the only way forward.
We are committed to making this work and to getting the parties back around the table.
We are not naïve about the magnitude of this challenge. After twenty-one months of no Government here in Northern Ireland, there is even more of an onus on the parties to seek a way forward. For our part, we will continue to work with the political parties and with the British Government to get a resolution.
Friends, I need hardly remind you that Brexit is now only 5 months away.
It is one of the greatest challenges this island has faced in the past century, because it threatens to pull as apart and that in turn undermines the Good Friday Agreement settlement.
In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive, our job as an Irish Government is to look out for the interests of the entire island of Ireland.
We know where we stand.
Our objectives in these difficult negotiations are simple.
We are determined to protect the Good Friday Agreement.
We are determined to prevent the re-emergence of a hard border.
We want to retain the common travel area, ensuring that people who are Irish or British can travel freely between our two islands, can live, work, access healthcare, welfare, and education, in each other’s countries as though they were citizens of both.
We also want the withdrawal agreement to include a transition period.
We want PEACE and INTERREG funding to continue.
And we want to protect the European rights and freedoms of people in Northern Ireland, especially young people, who will continue to be Irish and EU citizens should they wish to exercise that right. Especially the right to work, travel and study in any of the 27 member states.
And, of course, after Brexit we want to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and UK to minimise the disruption to trade.
The Good Friday Agreement was founded on three principles:
We should be willing to consider special arrangements for Northern Ireland to help us come to a solution. We should be steadfast that this will not breach the principle of consent or change the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.
Friends, earlier today, someone said to me that it was a pity another of your great alumni, Brian Friel, passed away in 2015, because we need his insights now more than ever.
Fortunately we still have his writings, and the wisdom to be found there is as relevant and as powerful as ever.
‘Translations’ may have been written almost 40 years ago, but it reflects the evolving and ever-changing link between language and identity. It still speaks to us today. When Hugh says at the end of the play that ‘we must learn where we live. We must learn to make them our own. We must make them our new home’ he could just as easily have been talking about the challenges facing us today.
Too often we seem to be talking at cross purposes. Talking past each other instead of sharing a dialogue. The courageous example of people like Mark Durkan reminds us that we must learn where we live, and we must learn to make them our own. Not by insisting on the perfect, but by making a new home, by making the compromises that enable a better future. A shared space.
So, to conclude, I would like to thank you once again for the opportunity to be here this evening and to celebrate this award for Mark.
In ancient times, the Romans honoured those who had achieved great things, because, by bearing witness, they believed they could inspire others to be of service to each other.
Mark’s leadership, his courage of conviction, and his work for a better future for Derry and for Ireland, deserves to be honoured. It is story which inspires us to do more.
Ends