On May 2, 2008, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern delivered a major address at the Kennedy Library where he marked the 10th Anniversary of the April 10, 1998 Good Friday Peace Accord in Northern Ireland by declaring that “Ireland is at peace.” Also, in an unprecedented announcement, Ahern presented an historic gift of $2 million from the people of Ireland to the Kennedy Library Foundation to benefit the nation’s official memorial to President John F. Kennedy, America’s first Irish-Catholic President. The speech was the last given by Prime Minister Ahern in the United States before stepping down as Ireland’s Prime Minister on May 6.
During his speech, Ahern called the Kennedy Library “a vibrant international centre” and announced the John F. Kennedy Irish Abroad Legacy Gift from the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Support for Irish Emigrant Groups program. The historic grant from the people of Ireland will go towards the cost of establishing the Irish Heritage Collection of the Kennedy Library Digital Archive, supporting the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award™, and presenting public programs that celebrate diversity in the tradition of John F. Kennedy.
At the conclusion of his remarks, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy presented Prime Minister Ahern with a Simon Pearce crystal bowl which was engraved – “‘Ireland is not the land of my birth but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection…’ John F. Kennedy, Limerick, June 29, 1963 – Presented to An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, T.D. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library May 2, 2008.”
“I’m deeply touched and honored to thank the Prime Minister and the people of Ireland for the generous contribution to the Kennedy Library to support the ideals of President Kennedy,” said Senator Edward M. Kennedy. “I know my brother would be very grateful as well. On behalf of the entire Kennedy family, we thank the Prime Minister for his generosity, his statesmanship, and his friendship.”
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, I wish to express our profound gratitude to the citizens of Ireland for their extraordinarily generous contribution to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in honor of President Kennedy and his enduring influence upon Ireland’s citizens, her diaspora, and all citizens of the world,” said Paul G. Kirk, Jr., Chairman of the Kennedy Library Foundation’s Board of Directors.
John Shattuck, CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said, “Most fittingly, 2008 marks the 45th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland and the 10th Anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award ceremony honoring the Peacemakers of Northern Ireland. For now and for all time, the Kennedy Presidential Library treasures the gifts of Ireland to President Kennedy’s life and legacy, and we are honored to be the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Irish Abroad Legacy Gift in his name.”
Prime Minister Ahern was first welcomed to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library by the Kennedy family on December 15, 1997 when he was honored for his commitment to the peace process in Northern Ireland at a dinner and reception attended by 350 guests.
One year later, on December 7, 1998, the Kennedy family and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation presented a special John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to eight political leaders of Northern Ireland and the American chairman of the peace talks in recognition of the extraordinary political courage they demonstrated in negotiating the historic Good Friday Peace Agreement of April 10, 1998. The award presentation was made by Caroline Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Library Foundation, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy at a formal ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.
The presentations by Prime Ministers Brown and Ahern were made possible through the generosity of the Kennedy Library Forum and Distinguished Visitor Program sponsors: Bank of America, Boston Capital, the Corcoran-Jennison Companies, the Lowell Institute, Raytheon Corporation, and the Boston Foundation, along with media sponsors The Boston Globe, 90.9 WBUR, and NECN.
Excerpts from the remarks of An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, T.D., Prime Minister of Ireland speech.
Click here to read or watch the Prime Minister’s speech in its entirety.
"Ireland owes the Kennedy family far more than any speech could signify. We held our breath with you when President Kennedy won his famous victory in November 1960. We watched as he inspired America. We felt that inspiration ourselves, as the whole world did. We felt new possibilities open up: the re-emergence of hope and humanity in a world that had become filled with new danger….
And through… the talks and the conflict, through the war and the words, we had the wisdom and foresight of your hometown Senator, Edward Kennedy, who walked with us on the path to peace and reconciliation.
To paraphrase another famous Massachusetts leader, John Quincy Adams, there are just
some people who inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more. Irish appreciation and affection for our great friend Ted will resonate in our hearts and in our history books long into the future….
Nowhere is President Kennedy’s legacy better sustained and promoted than here at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. An outstanding institution ever since its doors opened in October 1979, in recent years the Library has expanded its mission beyond the preservation and display of the physical and archival elements of President Kennedy’s legacy.
This is now a vibrant international centre, host to a range of educational programmes and public conferences on the protection of human rights, the resolution of conflicts and the promotion of peace. I want to congratulate Caroline Kennedy, in particular, for her vision in expanding the ambitions and achievements of this Library to encapsulate so many of the ideals for which her father, and her family, are rightly renowned. In this year, the 45th anniversary of the President’s visit to Ireland, I am pleased to announce that the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is to receive Irish Government funding of $2 million (dollars) to support projects celebrating the shared commitment of Ireland and the United States to President Kennedy’s ideals.
The projects showcase Ireland’s distinctive contributions to America’s modern political and cultural thought and will help ensure that the Kennedy legacy is extended to new generations of citizens and leaders in the United States, Ireland and worldwide. President Kennedy inspired Ireland and the Irish people with a new confidence in our ability to play a key role on the international stage.
In the forty five years since 1963, we have gone on to prove the President’s confidence was well founded, both at home and abroad. Ireland today is culturally vibrant, economically prosperous and at peace. The contributions Irish people have made in the United States and beyond – politically, economically, socially and culturally – fill us with pride, just as they elevate the profile and standing of Ireland internationally.
And I think the very best qualities of our Diaspora continue to be displayed in Irish-America, a culture that marries the great optimism, determination and drive of the American spirit with the creativity, good humour and generosity of approach that perhaps symbolizes the essence of what is Irish.
The wonderful political and economic example of the United States of America challenges our cynicism and opens our eyes to opportunity and its power as a force for social good."