TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has said Mary Carney’s rise from his Irish roots to the position of Canadian Prime Minister is ‘the story of Ireland itself’.
Mr Martin was speaking at a gala dinner on Saturday welcoming Mr Carney to Ireland for a two-day visit.
Mr Carney, who today will travel to his ancestral home in Co. Mayo, described his visit to Dublin Castle as a ‘distinct honour’.
Following his arrival into Dublin on Saturday morning, the pair held talks on deepening the relationship between the two countries.
They have pledged to work closer on artificial intelligence, cooperate on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and work together to find new ways to increase shared food security and resilience.
‘Canada gave our people opportunity’
Speaking afterwards, the Taoiseach said Mr Carney’s grandparents from Aughagower, Co. Mayo had, like many other Irish people, crossed the Atlantic in search of a better life.
“Like so many Irish families of their generation, they left people they loved, places they cherished, and a country that would always remain part of their identity,” he added.
“They could scarcely have imagined that one day their grandson would return to Ireland as Prime Minister of Canada, welcomed by the people of the country they left behind.
“It is an extraordinary journey. It is, in many ways, the story of Ireland itself.
“For generations, Irish people looked westward across the Atlantic towards Canada.
“They carried with them little more than hope, determination, resilience and a belief that tomorrow could be better than today.
“And Canada welcomed them in a most extraordinary way. Canada gave our people opportunity, community and a future.”
‘Rupture in the global system’
Thanking the Taoiseach for his comments, Mr Carney said he never thought he would be inside Dublin Castle before quipping that his ancestors ‘probably never would have wanted to’.
He said the bonds between Ireland and Canada run much deeper than traditional ties between countries forged at meetings and summits.
“They’re bonds that began with the crossing of thresholds, of doorways in Mayo, Cork and Donegal,” he said.
“Families or individuals stepping out, looking westward, uncertain of what lay on the other side, only the hope that something better might.
“People crossing thresholds to start new lives on a new continent without forgetting the old.”
Those bonds, he said, were more important now than ever as Ireland and Canada pledged to work together to counter a ‘rupture in the global system’.
“In every moment where there’s a crack — in this time when there’s a rupture, there’s possibility,” he said.
“It’s our responsibility, it’s our opportunity as Canada and Ireland in this hinge moment of history to find that light and I know we will.”
Today, Mr Carney is due to travel to Co. Mayo where he will meet President Catherine Connolly and take part in a tree-planting ceremony organised by Aughagower Community Council.
This evening he will deliver a speech at a civic reception hosted by Mayo County Council.
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