State Dinner for the President of Ireland

I greet everyone the languages of the realm of New Zealand - English, Maori, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the evening (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Your Excellency Mary McAleese, President of Ireland; your husband Dr Martin McAleese; Your Excellency Mr Mirtn Fainn, Ambassador for Ireland to New Zealand; Hon Mary Hanafin, Minister for Science and Education and fellow members of the Irish delegation; Hon Chris Carter, New Zealand Minister of Conservation, of Housing, and for Ethnic Affairs; Ambassadors and High Commissioners and Members of the Diplomatic Corps; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

To our Irish visitors may I say: Cad Mle Filte.

Your Excellency—I want first to register thanks for your visit to us in New Zealand.  My wife Susan and I have the privilege to declare that to you, on behalf of all New Zealanders.

The relationship between our two countries is friendly, marked by warmth and co-operation. Links of kinship and a similarity of outlook on many issues have contributed to this.

The substantial flow of Irish immigrants to New Zealand in the period after 1840 and the strong connection between Ireland and the Catholic Church in New Zealand have left a web of close family connections. Many prominent New Zealanders—including former New Zealand Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jim Bolger—have Irish ancestry and a number of people who have been able to accept an invitation to be here this evening are those who can lay claim to a family business or professional connection with Ireland and/or Irishness.

About 18 percent of New Zealanders claim Irish descent and such is the interest in the subject that there is an Irish Studies Programme at Otago University in Dunedin and an Irish-Scottish Studies Programme at Victoria University here in Wellington.  To that end, I wish to acknowledge Professor Peter Kuch, the inaugural Eamon Cleary Professor of Irish Studies at Otago University in Dunedin, and Dr Brad Patterson, Director of the Irish-Scottish Programme at Victoria University of Wellington, who are both here tonight.

The present day relationship with Ireland is characterised by a familiarity and warmth in official contacts.  Those visits include one by my predecessor Dame Silvia Cartwright in June last year and by our Prime Minister, Rt Hon Helen Clark, in 2005.

Likewise, there have been regular visits to New Zealand by senior Irish figures, including your own previous visit in 1998.  It is therefore a pleasure Your Excellency to welcome you back to New Zealand. 

And that mutual interest is not just at the ministerial level.  In 1995, a Working Holiday Scheme between New Zealand and Ireland came into force. The quota for the working holiday scheme is up substantially from that year and the number of tourists in both directions likewise continues to rise.

There is also a healthy trade between our two countries, although naturally this now occurs within the context of the European Union.

In conclusion, Your Excellency, I trust that you enjoy your State Visit to New Zealand.  I am sure you will find that whilst much has changed in the nine years since your first official visit the empathy by New Zealanders for your country remains in place.

On that note I will close in Maori, issuing greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours.

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.