Ar ais sa Chomhlathas? (as An tUltach, Meitheamh 2010) ('Ireland and the Commonwealth' - Léirmheas le Peader Cassidy)

('Ireland and the Commonwealth' - Léirmheas le Peader Cassidy)

Cnuasach aistí atá sa leabhar seo ina bpléitear le téama amháin: moltar caidreamh idir Éirinn agus an Chomhlathas Briotanach a dhaingniú agus cuirtear i láthair na buntáistí a bhéadh ann ach an scoilt eatarthu a dheisiú.

Bhí cuid de na hailt le scribhneoirí mór le rá mar Mary Kenny, Roy Garland, Bruce Arnold agus John-Paul McCarthy i gcló cheana féin.

Tugann siad léargas bríomhar ar na pearsantachtaí a bhí páirteach sa stair chorraitheach a bhaineann leis an cheist seo, Seán McBride, Éamonn De Valera agus Clement Attlee ina measc.

Cuireann Rob Bury síos ar an eachtra greanntraigéide a thit amach nuair a bhris an Comhrialtas amach ón Chomhlathas ceithre lá roimh an chinneadh i mí Aibreáin 1949 chun glacadh le pobhlachtaí sa Chomhlathas, mar shampla, an India.

Is suimniúil na hathruithe eile a tharla sa Chomhlathas ón uair sin i leith: tá 54 tir anois ann, 33 poblacht ina measc. Ar na stáit nua a tháinig isteach ann le déanaí tá an Afraic Theas (tar éis dóibh achar ama a chaitheamh taobh amuigh de), Mósaimbíc agus Ruanda.

Pléitear an cheist go huile is go hiomlán, agus tá athrá le mothú anseo is ansiúd sna scríbhinní. Is suntasach go bhfuil alt i nGaeilge ann.

Tá an leabhar beoga soléite fiú mura n-aontaíonn tú leis an pholasaí áirithe a chuirtear chun cinn ann. Tá creidiúint mhór ag dul don Reform Group as an leabhar a fhoilsiú; grúpa é nach bhfuil eagraithe go hoifigiúil go fóill ach a bhfuil suíomh idirlín acu; níl mórán maoinithe faighte acu ach oiread.

Bhí scaifte maithi i láthair nuair a seoladh an leabhar in Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann, Sráid Dawson, Baile Átha Cliath ar 11 Bealtaine 2010.

Mar aíonna an bhí an Seanadóir David Norris, Roy Garland, gníomhaí síochána agus colúnaí leis an Irish News agus Geoffrey Roberts, Ollamh le Stair in Ollscoil Náisiúnta na hÉireann, Corcaigh.

Labhair an Seanadóir Norris go fuinniúil ag maoimh gur comhartha aibíochta againne sa tir seo an ceangai leis an Chomlathas a phlé, go bhfuil trí phoblacht is tríocha san eagras cheana féin agus mar bharr áir sin go bhfuil gaol ag Banríon Eilis II le Brian Ború agus Eoin Ruadh Ó Néill.

Rinne Roy Garland cur síos ar scéal a mhuintire féin i saol corraitheach an Tuaiscirt. Chonaic sé an t-amhras agus an naimhdeas roimh Phoblacht na hÉireann: dar leis, beidh Aontachtaithe doicheallach i leith na Poblachta go dtí go ndéanfar athmhachnamh ar cheis an Chomhlathais.

I measc na ndaoine eile a bhí i láthair bhí Elizabeth Green, Príomhrúnaí Ambasáid na Breataine, Antoinette Rademan, Comhairleoir Ambasáid na hAfraice Theas agus Barbara Fitzgerald, iar-Uachtarán an Irish Association.

Bhí ionadaithe as Fine Gael i láthair freisin. Tá an leabhar ar fáil ar an idirlíon ar €10. (http://reformblog.blogspot.com)

(as An tUltach, Meitheamh 2010)

Reform Group Letter in today's Irish Times, Irish Examiner and Irish Independent about Queen's visit

Madam, – A state visit by Queen Elizabeth in 2011 is yet another visible sign of the transformation which has taken place over recent years between Ireland and UK. There is nothing to fear from such a visit, and much to be gained.

Reform, which has been working for better relations between Ireland and Britain for years, warmly welcomes the proposals for the forthcoming visit as an expression of better relations between our two states. The visit would mark a further logical step of the Belfast Agreement, as Alban Maginness, SDLP, just said.

We have no doubt that the great majority of Irish people will extend a warm welcome to Queen Elizabeth, just as they did to her grandfather George V 100 years ago next year. Her visit will reflect the sense of a coming-together between the two traditions on our island, and between the peoples of these islands. – Yours, etc,

ROBIN BURY, ROY GARLAND
STR GAMBLE,
The Reform Group,
Military Road,
Killiney, Co Dublin.

NI Assembly debate on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

With all the recent debate over the Commonwealth, readers may be interested in a debate held in the Northern Ireland Assembly on the topic of joining the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

The Hansard Record of the debate is here: http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports2007/070514.htm

The motion on rejoining the CPA was put forward by Rev. Dr. Robert Coulter MLA:

"That this Assembly agrees to re-apply for admission to membership of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, such membership to be effective immediately on approval of the application by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and to abide by the provisions of the constitution of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association; that the required membership fee be paid to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association; and that this motion be communicated to the secretariat of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association immediately following agreement.

The debate was notable for a number of reasons, not least as Sinn Fein did not oppose rejoining the CPA. Mitchell McLaughlin MLA, speaking for Sinn Fein stated:

"Sinn Féin will not vote against the motion. As Members will understand, although the issue is not a matter of primary interest to Sinn Féin, it will not set up any obstacles or cause difficulties for Members who feel that the motion reflects their cultural, political and social affinities."

The question on the motion was then put to the Northern Ireland Assembly and agreed to.

Hopefully the day will come before too long when Dail Eireann follows suit!

Sunday Independent article on the Commonwealth

Sunday Independent correspondent Eamon Delaney has written an article on the Commonwealth that is well worth reading.

He refers to the launch of Reform's new Ireland and the Commonwealth book and points out that

"Ireland has never been as harmoniously close as to the UK as it is now, and we should never have left the loose association of the Commonwealth, especially since we helped to design the actual thing with Kevin O'Higgins, way back after our independence -- and in tandem with it."

Delaney also argues:

"Rejoining the Commonwealth would in fact help to bridge the gulf of partition which has actually grown since the peace process. "

The whole article - entitled "Rejoining the Commonwealth Club? C'mon it'll be great sport" - is available on the Sunday Independent website - it's certainly a very interesting contribution to the ongoing debate and is well worth reading in full.

Senator David Norris helps with Dublin launch of "Ireland and the Commonwealth"

Here are a selection of photos from the Dublin launch of Reform's new book: Ireland and the Commonwealth.

Senator David Norris helped launch the book. Also present at the launch were Northern Ireland commentator Roy Garland, along with Rob Bury from the Reform Group and a number of other invited guests.

The Belfast Telegraph have published an article covering the Dublin launch of the new book.

Photos from the launch of "Ireland and the Commonwealth"

Here are a selection of photos from the recent London launch of Reform's new book: "Ireland and the Commonwealth - Towards Membership":

Daily Telegraph coverage of the launch of "Ireland and the Commonwealth - Towards Membership"

Reform's new book "Ireland and the Commonwealth - Towards Membership" was launched last week at a well-attended reception in London.

The book can be ordered online by clicking here.

Here are some excerpts from Philip Johnston's Daily Telegraph article covering the launch - the full article can be read on the Daily Telegraph website: Could Ireland really rejoin the Commonwealth?


Easter holds a special place in the history of Ireland. In 1916, the insurrection known as the Easter Rising paved the way for the country's partition and a bloody civil conflict. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement marked the end of the Provisional IRA's war with the British state and the beginnings of a process that has resulted in the two extremes in Ulster politics coming together to share power.

It was also at Easter, in 1949 – some 27 years after the Free State was established as a dominion under the Anglo-Irish Treaty – that the Irish republic was born. At the same time, Ireland left the Commonwealth in a final breach with Britain, though Eamon de Valera, the man most associated with the cause of Irish independence, opposed this démarche. He refused even to attend the celebrations to mark the republic, and later said he would preferred to have retained the link with the Commonwealth.

Unlikely as it may sound, there is a growing campaign for Ireland to rejoin the Commonwealth. A pamphlet launched today by The Reform Group argues that such a move would be seen as a significant gesture of reconciliation towards the Unionist community of Northern Ireland. The Reform Group describes itself as a Unionist movement in the tradition of John Redmond, the Irish leader whose efforts to secure home rule within the British Empire were thwarted by the onset of the First World War.

Campaigners believe that were Ireland to rejoin the Commonwealth, it would draw a line under the troubled history of Anglo-Irish relations and help develop a pluralist Ireland comfortable with its different identities and turbulent past. There is a strong argument, too, that Ireland's self-interest would also be served by being part of the Commonwealth, which is a world forum with links to many other institutions.....

Sixty years on, there is no obvious barrier to Ireland following suit, and many arguments in favour – not least its common heritage with many members (there is an Irish diaspora of some 40 million living in Commonwealth countries)."

(By Jerry Walsh) - The Angelus: Thoughts for the Reform Blog from a Roman Catholic perspective

The Angelus chimes broadcasted several times daily on RTE, the Irish State funded broadcasting system, remind the Roman Catholic faithful to recall and perhaps to recite a traditional Roman Catholic prayer. The prayer recalls the annunciation of the good news of the impending birth of the Saviour Jesus Christ to the immaculately conceived Virgin Mary. The prayer reminds Roman Catholics of the high position of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic pantheon and of the honour due to her. RC people often describe the BVM as and address her in prayer as the “Mother of God” particularly in the “Hail Mary” prayer which is an integral part of the “Angelus” prayer. RC dogma teaches infallibly that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived immaculately, that she is uniquely free from original sin, and that she was assumed body and soul into heaven after her earthly life was complete. For Roman Catholic people, the Blessed Virgin Mary is Queen of Heaven and has legendary powers of intercession with the Deity.

The Angelus chimes were not present on the Irish broadcasting system from the beginning. The bells began in the Holy Year 1950. Broadcasting the bells was suggested by the Roman Catholic Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared infallibly that the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven was an obligatory belief for the Roman Catholic faithful.

Perhaps the introduction of the broadcast Angelus bells marked the high point of the Roman Catholic Irish sense of “difference” from and “religious superiority” over other people living in the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland had been declared on 21^st December 1948. The monarchy had been abolished and the last vestiges of the Dominion status Irish Free State finally ended. The Irish Republic left the British Commonwealth. The UK Government passed the Ireland Act 1949 to recognise these facts. In a remarkable act of kindness and pragmatism, Irish people were not to be regarded as aliens in the UK. The UK's Ireland Act also gave a legislative guarantee that Northern Ireland would continue to remain a part of the United Kingdom unless the parliament of Northern Ireland formally expressed a wish to join a United Ireland.

Was the new Republic of Ireland not very much an “Irish Catholic state for an Irish Catholic people” at first? Perhaps the worst fears of the Northern Irish Unionist people had been confirmed in 1950. The Irish Free State had demonstrated by adopting the 1937 Constitution that “Home Rule was Rome Rule”. The introduction of the Angelus bells on Radio Eireann in 1950 was highly symbolic therefore. Ireland was a Roman Catholic country. The views of others simply did not count.

Broadcasting the Angelus bells is regarded as a sectarian act by some Protestant people in Ireland. Spokespeople for RTE deny this, but as I have attempted to explain above, the bells are symbolic and invite people to consider a uniquely Roman Catholic prayer based on uniquely Roman Catholic dogma. How can this broadcast NOT be sectarian therefore?

Coming from a Roman Catholic background, the theological issues involved are not strange or unusual for me. But, I find the lack of respect for the beliefs of those in other faith groups, whether intended or not, both disturbing and of course incompatible with the diverse multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-faith and multi-racial nation Ireland always was but much more obviously so now. A State-funded broadcaster has no business promoting the interests of one faith group over and above any other in a non-sectarian state.

I find the broadcast Angelus bells remind me of an Ireland I would rather forget. They remind me of an Ireland of poverty, division, ignorance, intolerance, prejudice, violence, aggression, constant economic difficulties and emigration. They remind me of a dictatorial RC Hierarchy. They remind me of an Ireland in which the RC Church and State worked hand in hand. They remind me of an Irish State whose founding political ethos of self-styled, selfless sacrifice even unto death for ideas of freedom which turned out to be less than the pre-existing freedoms enjoyed by Irish people and which gave rise to an on-going culture of violent aggression against and hatred towards friendly neighbours and towards all those who saw things differently. They remind me of an Ireland based on the fascist values of family, work, fatherland and faith rather than the true values of the enlightenment - liberty, equality and fraternity. They remind me of an Ireland which denied rights to children, which denied women and men rights to divorce, contraception and abortion and which denied rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. They remind me of an Ireland whose legislators viewed everything from a Roman Catholic moral and social perspective and where the secret influence of a Bishop could scupper legislation.

I find myself increasingly offended by these minutes of free advertising for a religious organization so badly in need of internal reform. Very unwillingly, the hierarchy of Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has revealed great shortcomings in internal governance. The RC laity in Ireland has no say whatsoever. RC bishops are summoned to Rome to consider the future of the Irish Church but Rome has invited neither victims’ representatives nor any lay people to this dialogue so far. Accountability would not appear to be on the agenda. True internal reform of the RC church appears as far away as ever. The Angelus bells on RTE remind me daily of the emotional, spiritual, physical and sexual abuse so many Irish people and others around the world have endured from this flawed dictatorial organization. How sad that very important religious beliefs based originally on concepts of love, hope and faith in an all-loving all-forgiving creator and love and respect for neighbors have been brought into such disrepute by the actions of a few!

Should the RTE Angelus bells be phased out gradually or ended?

I would suggest either course of action is appropriate now. Announcing cessation of the Angelus may give rise to determined opposition from a small minority. Perhaps a gradual omission of the Angelus might be best. Let discussions overrun or music play into the time allocated for the bells and just forget to play them. RTE might just forget to include “The Angelus” in program scheduling from time to time and then drop it completely.

Another solution might be to consider consolidation of the Angelus broadcasting time and eventually using the new space for a “Thought for the Day” given by people from various faiths and from humanist and atheist backgrounds.

Jerry Walsh

25^th January 2010.

"Ireland: Time to Come Home" - Speech by Sir Shridath Ramphal

The following is the text of a fascinating and relevant speech entitled "Ireland: Time to Come Home" delivered by the former Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990) and Foreign Minister of Guyana (1972-1975) Sir Shridath Ramphal, at the Round Table Dinner on the occasion of the 2009 Commonwealth Summit in Port of Spain.

If you find this speech interesting, you may also like to visit the comprehensive website of the Ramphal Centre for Commonwealth Studies - which helps to promote the essential values of the Commonwealth; good governance, economic development and social justice around the world.

Mr Chairman, Members of the Round Table, Commonwealth kin –

May I be permitted to begin – despite our sequestration on the Campus of the University – by extending in absentia to Her Majesty and Prince Philip the warmest of welcomes to the Caribbean, and invite you to join me in a toast to the Head of the Commonwealth and her Consort: THE QUEEN!

Next, let me say in a preliminary way that when invited to speak after dinner I was not circumscribed in any way by theme or issue – a luxury I do not often enjoy. I intend, therefore to speak to a matter that has long been on my mind and which I may not have again as good an opportunity to raise. It is eminently relevant to the 60^th anniversary of the birth of the modern Commonwealth in 1949 and, I invite you to agree, to the Commonwealth’s years beyond 60. To that end, I have called these remarks (which I assure you will not detain you beyond legitimate post-prandial allowance : IRELAND: TIME TO COME HOME. But, before that, there are some linked observations.

When Richard Bourne first approached me about this evening’s Dinner I was frankly hesitant: an instinct about old wine and new wineskins made me pause. But reflection trumped instinct. The Round Table after all is an even older bottle than my wine; and it is the Round Table with whom I am here to dine. In any case, if I might stay with my metaphoric wine, the Commonwealth is like vintage port , its intrinsic quality doesn’t alter with changing decanters. So here I am, on the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – if it still is that - in my native Caribbean, thanking you for asking me. And I do sincerely thank you; for if the Commonwealth is a ‘Club’ –as African member states insistently describe it - the Round Table comes close to being an unofficial patron, and like any good patron, never far from the Commonwealth’s fortunes.

The eve of your Centennial is a proud time and I am happy to share it with you. 1910 was worlds away. That you can rightly boast of being Britain’s oldest international affairs Journal tells not only a story of your vintage, but also of the eras that have come and gone since the Round table first convened. And in all that changing time you have kept faith and focus with the Commonwealth idea in all of its evolving modes; helping, indeed, to shape them through the rigour of intellectual analysis and commentary.

To have done that for a hundred years is a huge accomplishment; and I am sure that through all your time of celebration you will be recalling the stalwarts that founded and presided in myriad ways over the affairs of the Round Table – and of your trusteeship of their legacy. In my time in Marlborough House I was ever grateful for the Round Table’s contribution to the Commonwealth project. It is a dimension of Commonwealth affairs whose absence we would bemoan were it not there. I wish, of course, that the Journal is more widely disseminated – particularly in the rest of the Commonwealth; but since this is a wish I assume you share, I expect its fulfillment is a work in progress.

This year, the Commonwealth has been celebrating its own Jubilee within those hundred years – 60 years of the modern Commonwealth – 60 years of a Commonwealth experience made possible by the wisdom that prevailed among Commonwealth leaders in 1949 – as the Round Table itself neared 40. The Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty the Queen, held a celebratory Reception this year to mark the occasion, and we had the pleasure of looking at the original photographs of the 1949 Prime Ministers grouped around King George VI. The Secretary-General (along with Emeka Anyaoku and me) were photographed with Her Majesty at the same spot in the Palace where that earlier photograph had been taken with her father 60 years earlier. I took the opportunity of assuring Her Majesty, of the awareness of many of the quiet role the King had played in 1949 in facilitating that enlightened decision of leaders of the quality of Clement Atlee, Jawaharalal Nehru, Lester Pearson (not yet Prime Minister) and their colleagues.

I have spoken elsewhere of that April Declaration and its making of the modern Commonwealth; members of the Round Table need no reminder of that moment of great vision, but as we dine tonight we should lift a glass to that moment when the Commonwealth faced with a turning in the road took the ‘path less travelled by’ and by doing so made all the difference to the future of the Commonwealth, and in a small way, to the future of the world. Such moments do not come often in the affairs of nations, and more rarely still, such an impeccably right choice. It is a time to remember the enlightenment of the great men who made it – both in Downing Street and in the Palace. And in remembering, let us be encouraged to look out for other turnings in the road, and other roads less travelled by, which taken might lead to lush pastures for the Commonwealth.

The April Declaration in this sense was a moment of pleasure; but, Shelley was right, sometimes ‘our sincerest laughter with some little pain is fraught’. And it is on this that I would like to dwell a little; for the pain lingers and can, and I believe should, be relieved. I talk of Ireland – not, I know, on the Agenda of the Port of Spain Meeting, and not in our minds 60 years after it left the Commonwealth; for this year marks the Jubilee of that event too.

Four days before the London Summit opened in April 1949 Ireland had left Commonwealth, baulking at ‘alleigance’ to the Crown and assuming Commonwealth membership to be incompatible with Republican Status. That the Republic of Ireland Act was passed in December 1948 but only brought into force four days before the London Summit opened, suggests however that that assumption may not have been unquestioned in Dublin. In other words, for the new Irish Republic, leaving the Commonwealth was not so much a legal necessity (a necessary implication of becoming a Republic) but a deliberate political choice. And, of course, my point tonight, is that political choices are never for all time.

I must say a little more, however; and some of it really is ironic. Historically, the Irish Free State helped to make the modern Commonwealth possible through its contributions to the Imperial Conferences of 1926 and 1930 which gave the Commonwealth legal definition. The insistent and constructive efforts of the Cosgrave Government were central to both the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster of 1931. In 1926 both South Africa and the Irish Free State claimed credit for securing the definition of ‘Dominion Status’. To the statement of General Hertzog on his return to South Africa: ’We have brought home the bacon’; the Irish Representative Kevin O’Higgins is reported to have commented: ‘Irish bacon’. And so too was the Statute of Westminster. Nicholas Mansergh was actually shown the desk in Dublin where the Statute was said to have been drafted. The point is, Ireland played a major role in moving the Commonwealth to modernity. But the sticking point still was ‘alleigance’

Not surprisingly, when in 1948 India decided to become a Republic but wished to remain in the Commonwealth, it was to Dublin’s long efforts to work out appropriate forms that it turned; and this time the whole Commonwealth and its future direction benefited. In a sense, all India did was to declare her intention to become a Republic, express her wish to remain in the Commonwealth and her acceptance of the King as the symbol of the free association of the Commonwealth’s independent member states and, as such, Head of the Commonwealth.

But a sea change had occurred. The effect of the April Declaration was to replace allegiance to the Crown as the criterion of Commonwealth membership with the much more modest acceptance of the King, later the Queen, as Head of the Commonwealth. Today, Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in a Republic in the Caribbean. This apparently simple change removed at one stroke the legal objection that had caused the Irish Republic’s withdrawal a week earlier; but whether it would have made Ireland’s continued membership likely had it come earlier is another matter entirely.

Sean MacBride’s view – and he was Ireland’s Foreign Minister at time (Minister for External Affairs in the Inter-Party Government - when I asked him the question many years later, was decidedly negative. He explained that, In fact, the date for bringing the Republic of Ireland Act into force had been long set for Easter Day 1949, viz., 18 April; the convening of the London Summit on 22 April simply galvanized Dublin into not letting the date slip. Republicans, like MacBride wanted no reason to arise that might encourage second thoughts. The truth was, that the long and troubled relationship between Dublin and London and the powerful symbolism of the Crown, despite the disappearance of ‘allegiance’, was not enough at that time to stay the process of withdrawal from the Commonwealth. Yet, 60 years later, Dublin’s fear that Commonwealth membership might tarnish its independence has not been the experience of other Commonwealth countries, the great majority of them republics. Rather the opposite. Nehru, himself arch-nationalist and republican, described Commonwealth membership as ‘independence plus’.

Six decades later, when some of the wounds of the troubles are healing under the influence of Dublin and London working together; when the Queen as the symbolic Head of the Commonwealth has demonstrated beyond question that the Commonwealth’s Republics are as one with any other; when the Commonwealth is opening up its membership to newcomers who share none of the historic ties that bind Ireland to so many of us; is it perhaps time to tell Ireland that nothing but welcome awaits her in the Commonwealth when she feels ready to come home.

I thought that the Caribbean might not be so bad a place to raise this matter in that there is a kinship with Ireland whose roots go deep in history – deep in the conjunctures between the experience of Ireland and that of many of the countries of the Commonwealth. The ‘provinces’ in the beginning were not so very different from the colonies of settlement. When I read, for example, that Lord Montgomery’s family background was in ‘the Plantation’ – a plantation as much human as agricultural – we are on common ground. My forbears from India were indentured to the plantations of British Guiana, where ‘plantation’ meant colonization, as well a human transplantation to a form of servitude.

So let me end with a conjuncture of a lighter kind. When, in 1837, the Guiana sugar planters were pressing for British government acquiescence in bringing indentured workers from India, they used as part of their argument the allegation that labourers imported from elsewhere, including ‘Ireland’, had not proved suitable “ from the influence of the climate generally producing reluctance to labour, and increasing the Desire for Spirituous Liquors, which the low Price and abundance of new Rum enables them to gratify”. I quote from a letter from Sir John Gladstone, the father of England’s future Prime Minister.

My ancestors went to Guyana’s sugar plantations as a result of that letter – whence by indirection I come to you tonight. Lest the Irish in Guyana be defamed, let me add that it was not so much the indentured labourers – from Ireland or elsewhere – who gratified a desire for ‘Spirituours Liquors’, but the sugar planters themselves who made famous that most potent of tonics – the ‘Demerara rum swizzle’ – the progenitor of the ‘West Indian Rum Punch’, which I hope you have enjoyed copiously in Port of Spain.

It is time these Commonwealth conjunctures with Ireland and the Irish fulfilled their innate destiny.

Where better to say this that to the Round Table - and in the Caribbean !

(Port of Spain, 27th November 2009)