160329 DCU Master

1 Inaugural Ambassadorial Lecture at Dublin City University given by His Excellency Dominick Chilcott, the British Ambassador to Ireland Thank you very much for that generous introduction. Lord Mayor, President of DCU, chers colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good evening. It is an honour to be asked by the Lord Mayor and the President of DCU to give this inaugural ambassadorial lecture. We should all congratulate Dublin City Council and DCU for taking the initiative to establish what will doubtless become a regular part of Dublin’s diplomatic calendar. Dublin is a highly successful city. It is host to many of the state’s most important institutions. It sits at the centre of a very lively regional economy, which is growing faster than China’s these days. It boasts great universities and an outstanding cultural hinterland; a great passion for literature and the theatre; wonderful music in its splendid concert halls; outstanding sport - and much more. Dublin is a terrific posting, particularly for a British ambassador, although to be honest not many Brits would have joined the diplomatic service to serve in Ireland. We more often harbour romantic ideas of living in exotic countries in tropical climes - I know I did. But actually, the move from London to Dublin is about as good as it gets. This place is a hidden gem. At the time of the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, Dublin was the second most populous city in the union. When King George the Vth came here in 1911, the editor of the Irish Times claimed that Dublin was the second city of the British Empire. With its port and airport connecting people and goods to the outside world, it is no surprise that modern day Dublin remains an outward looking city, enriched by the free flow of trade, culture and ideas. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network lists Dublin as a global city with an Alpha rating, placing it among the top 30 cities in the world. S2016 HE Chilcott Lecture DCU 2 I see this lecture, which demonstrates the openness of our hosts to the views of representatives of other countries, as further evidence of Dublin’s self confidently asserting itself in our globalised, networked world. Having said that, Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s good that Dublin City Council and DCU have not been put off by the reputation that some diplomats have for mendacity. This theme of diplomats practising the dark arts of deception has been elaborated upon by many commentators. The US writer, Oliver Herford, sometimes called the American Oscar Wilde, once quipped that: ‘diplomacy is lying in state’. Perhaps our tarnished professional image - for the British at least - is due to a certain Henry Wooton, an English diplomat of the early 17th century who coined the infamous epigram that: “a diplomat is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country”. My colleagues may see things differently. But we ambassadors are all paid to advocate our government’s line - whatever its merits. Since my country has earned the sobriquet ‘Perfidious Albion’ the Foreign and Commonwealth Office may be especially at fault. In case you think the term – Perfidious Albion - has fallen out of use, please recall the Irish adaptation of the folk song, Foggy Dew, about the Easter Rising, which contains the line: “Oh the night fell black and the rifles’ crack made perfidious Albion reel”. A century on, this is a very significant year to invite a British ambassador, reeling or otherwise, to speak at such a prestigious occasion. The Easter Rising commemorations have been spectacular. The parade on Sunday was the largest such event in the history of the state. But all this Easter weekend’s events – outside the GPO, in Kilmainham Gaol, at Glasnevin cemetery, at Dublin Castle, in Iveagh House and on the streets of the city - have rightly made the county proud of itself. The Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mrs Heather Humphreys, and her team of officials deserve enormous credit for staging such a comprehensive programme of events, which include something for everyone, to remember the Rising. S2016 HE Chilcott Lecture DCU 3 The foreword to the programme of state events to commemorate the centenary of 1916 says: “There are some moments in history when a seed is sown and the old order changes forever. Easter 1916 was such a moment and from the very early days of this state, it has been the moment we have chosen to commemorate as marking the birth of our sovereign nation”. It was a privilege to stand in a place of honour, side by side with senior members of the Irish establishment, in front of the GPO on Sunday, commemorating Ireland’s road to independence and celebrating the achievements of the Republic. If Patrick Pearse is looking down at us this evening, he might well be surprised that this lecture isn’t being given by some other country’s ambassador. But I hope he would nonetheless be delighted by the mutual respect that the UK and Ireland show to one another nowadays, and by the friendship and cooperation that characterise our relations. We have come a long way. In speaking about the strengths of British-Irish relations, the title of this lecture, I don’t want to gloss over the 800 years of oppression which no Irishman forgets and no Englishman remembers. HM The Queen, at Dublin Castle, during her state visit in 2011, certainly wasn’t wearing rose tinted spectacles when she looked back at the past. As she said: “Of course, the relationship has not always been straightforward; nor has the record over the centuries been entirely benign. It is a sad and regrettable reality that through history our islands have experienced more than their fair share of heartache, turbulence and loss. To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.” Let me also quote from President Higgins’ speech at Windsor Castle, three years later. “Ireland and Britain” he said, “live in both the shadow and the shelter of one another, and so it has been since the dawn of history.” S2016 HE Chilcott Lecture DCU 4 So how have we emerged from the shadows, from the heartache, turbulence and loss? Why are things so much better these days? There are a number of reasons. Let’s start with the people. Of course, it helps that, even in troubled times, the people to people links between the two countries have stayed strong. There has been migration in both directions across the Irish Sea for centuries, going as far back as St Patrick, who was born in Wales, and even earlier. More recently, in the decades after the Second World War many thousands of Irish people came to Britain looking for work. They often married the locals and settled down. We reckon there are about 500,000 Irish nationals living in Great Britain today. The latest waves of Irish migrants to Britain tend to be highly educated, professional people. In fact, these people probably don’t even think of themselves as emigrants: it’s so simple to hop back home for the weekend. Equally impressively, as a result of this migration over the generations, we estimate that as many as 5 million people living in Great Britain have or had an Irish grandparent. Since that qualifies them for an Irish passport, it means that there are more potential Irish passport holders on the other side of the Irish Sea than there are in the Republic. There are also over 60,000 Irish directors in UK boardrooms, according to the Foreign Directors report by the communications agency, Eulogy. Irish directors are the largest group of non-British nationals on UK company boards. The intermingling of our peoples means that there are many people in top jobs in Britain who carry an Irish passport, or are entitled to do so. In fact, the penetration of people of Irish descent almost amounts to a reverse take-over of the British establishment. I’m only half joking. It is noteworthy that the Chief Executive of the British Council, the body responsible for promoting British culture and values around the world, is Sir Ciaran Devane, born in Dublin, a graduate of UCD and an Irish language speaker. S2016 HE Chilcott Lecture DCU 5 And the new Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Louise Richardson, the first woman to hold that position, hails from County Waterford. These connections of kith and kin have been facilitated by a common language and a largely overlapping culture, which means that we have always had a lot in common. Talking of our common language reminds me that next month is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. During his state visit to Britain in 2014, President Higgins visited the Royal Shakespeare Company at its home in Stratford-upon-Avon. The President made a brilliant speech on that occasion, one that I often return to, re-read, and draw inspiration from. “Today I want to acknowledge a great truth” the President said. “The English language that we share, if it was once the enforced language of conquest, is today the very language in which we have now come to delight in one another, to share our different and complementary understandings of what it means to be human together in this world, transacting in the currency of words.” The late, great broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan was an enormously important figure in British-Irish relations during the 1970s and 1980s.

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