Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon.
I’ve only recently discovered that one of the privileges of being Taoiseach is that the office holder is also the honorary President of European Movement Ireland. I am really privileged that the first event I am doing for EMI is presenting this award to former Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
It’s a special occasion. Not only because the recipient so deeply deserves it, but because this organisation has consistently stood up for Europe.
I believe in Europe and I know it’s something which the recipient of today’s award believes in too.
It’s fitting that the award is being presented,once again, in the beautiful Shelbournehotel, because this is where EM Ireland was founded. All the way back in 1954, some prominent Irish figures – including one of my forebears Garret Fitzgerald - decided that they needed to stand up for Europe. The organisation that was formed played an important role in Ireland joining the EEC in 1973. And it continues to play a vital role in our membership of the EU.
I’d like to pay tribute to Noelle O’Connell, Maurice Pratt, and all the staff of EM Ireland who do such important work in promoting the positives of the European Union to Ireland.
At a time when euro scepticism and nationalism is on the rise is some parts of Europe, I think we all know how valuable that work is now, perhaps more so than ever.
Their work is facilitated by you - the EMIreland membership – helped by generous sponsorship from a variety of sources - in particular, the Award’s sponsor, Uniphar.
Last year there was a very deserving collective award for Óglaigh na hÉireann, our Defence Forces, who were honoured for their exemplary service, often in very difficult circumstances. In a year when our Defence Forces once again showed their courage and value during Storm Ophelia and Storm Emma there can be no doubt that they deserved their award.
I would also like to mention two other previous winners - former Commissioner Peter Sutherland, and former Senator Maurice Hayes, both of whom sadly passed away in recent months. They both gave enormous service to Ireland and to Europe, and I think it’s right that we remember them today.
We are here today to honour the recipient of the 2017 European of the Year Award and it is a particular pleasure for me as Taoiseach to be presenting this to Iar-Taoiseach, EndaKenny.
Europe and Ireland have had a turbulent time over the past decade. The global financial crisis and our own banking and sovereign debt crisis hit us hard. EndaKenny knows this only too well, having guided us through most of those years.
I believe, when the history books are written, it will be said that he was the Taoiseach who gave Ireland our future back, and allowed Ireland to be hopeful and confident once more.
Now, as we recover, we find ourselves beset by new challenges - conflict, geopolitical uncertainties and their consequences, threats of trade wars and climate change - among others.
Some like to offer simple populist solutions or to suggest that, faced with these challenges, division will pull Europe apart. We have proved the doom-mongers wrong before and we must do so again.
We are united by our shared experiences, and above all by our shared values:
• respect for human dignity,
• personal and economic freedom,
• democracy,
• equality before the law,
• the rule of law and human rights,
• commitment to peace and multilateralism.
• Free trade and free markets.
The European Union was conceived in hope and born out of those values. We need to nurture them together and help them grow.
Our commitment to these values and principles means that we are well placed tomeet all challenges. And, because of this, I believe that we will secure a prosperous and peaceful future.
Of course, Brexit poses unique and particular challenges for Ireland.
At an early stage of the negotiations - under the strong and decisive leadership of EndaKenny - we agreed that our priorities should be.
And while others may have been unsure about what they thought Brexit meant, we always knew from day one, because of EndaKenny, what our objectives had to be.
They were of course:
• minimising the impact on our trade and our economy,
• protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, and all that flows from it; peace, power sharing and even closeNorth/South co-operation;
• preserving the Common Travel Area,
• maintaining our place at the heart of the common European home we helped to build.
With Enda firmly at the helm, we succeeded in ensuring that our unique concerns relating to Northern Ireland were listened to and understood. They became shared European concerns.
Enda’s role here cannot be over-estimated. He understood straightaway that there was a dual imperative. We had to preserve our bilateral relationship with the UK, and he also understood that Ireland’s place is and always will be at the heart of the European Union.
The shared EU approach has been maintained in the various European Council Conclusions, the "Kenny Declaration" of April 2017, the Joint Report of December 2017, and the draft Withdrawal Agreement which is currently under negotiation.
We want to ensure the future relationship between the EU and the UK is as close, comprehensive and ambitious as possible. That is in our interests, and the interests of the EU as a whole. So we want to move onto the detailed negotiations about that relationship as soon as possible.
However, we need to agree the Withdrawal Agreement first. We need significant and substantial progress to be made on the backstop solution for the border if we are to agree the entire text by October. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Negotiations will only progress when all the commitments undertaken are respected in full.
The unity of the EU, throughout this time,has been truly impressive. Our shared experiences and our common values mean that we speak with one voice. And that voice will be heard in these negotiations.
Europe has been good for Ireland. It has given us an identity that was not defined by our relationship with our nearest neighbour, and it gave us a sense of purpose about how we could play a part on the world stage.
Think of all that has been achieved since the European Union was first conceived. A continent that was racked by war and atrocities to one that has been healed. Adenauer, Monnet, Schuman and many others imagined a new future out of the pain and suffering that they witnessed in their lifetime. They realised that a new departurewas the only thing that would save Europe.
The extraordinary diversity of cultural, social and economic opportunity we enjoy today is the direct result of those visionaries and the great leap of imagination they made in the darkest of times.
Of course, our resolve has been tested, but it has never been shaken.
Your poll on 9 May, Europe Day, showed 92% of Irish citizens believed that Ireland should stay part of the EU.
Citizens are standing up for Europe. Because they know that, while imperfect, the EU is the best guarantee for peace and prosperity into the future.
And that brings me to today’s award of European of the Year.
Enda Kenny is someone who has always stood up for Ireland, and for Europe. His national political career almost mirrors Ireland's membership of the EU. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1975 – just after we joined the EEC. He was the youngest TD in the House in those days; he’s now the Father of the House.
Right from the start, he displayed a positive, consistently optimistic approach to solving problems, backed by a steely resolve which came to stand the country, and the EU, in very good stead.
In 2011, when Enda Kenny became Taoiseach, our GDP had plummeted, unemployment had soared, and Ireland's international reputation was in tatters. Under his patient, positive, determined, unswerving leadership, he united the country and got everyone working together to regain what was lost.
He had to fight for our national interests – such as our sovereignty to set our own corporation tax rate - while at the same time defending the single currency itself.
Guiding his work was his genuine appreciation of, and commitment to Europe.
His greatest quality was his temperament. Over his six years as Taoiseach he suffered many set-backs, but he never let it show. He was confident about Ireland’s future, and that spirit of optimism became contagiousand unbreakable.
Everyone likes Enda. In Europe, he didn’t need to work at building relationships –these people were his friends. So, at all times he was able to gently move thingsforward while always being willing to make a stand where necessary. His strong party connections and the respect and influence he wielded within the EPP family were of enormous benefit to the country.
So, it is entirely fitting that someone who has done so much for Ireland, for our place in Europe and for Europe itself, should be honoured for his achievements.
It therefore is an enormous privilege to present the European of the Year Award to Iar-Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.