Conferral Ceremony at the University of Western Australia, Perth

Speech by Michael D. Higgins President of Ireland

Tuesday, 10th October, 2017

Pro-Chancellor, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Barry McGuire Members of the Academic Community of the University of Western Australia, Members of the Irish Community, A Chairde Gael,

Tá áthas orm féin agus ar Saidhbhín a bheith libh anseo inniu in Ollscoil Iarthair na hAstráile. Is mór an onóir dom é glacadh leis an dochtúireacht oinigh uaibh anseo i bPerth.

As I speak in our own ancient language of Ireland I take the opportunity to acknowledge and pay my respects to the Elders present and past of the first caretakers of this land.

As one of the oldest universities in Australia, the University of Western Australia here in Perth has a long and distinguished history from its establishment in 1911. It is thus a great privilege to receive this honorary doctorate from a University that has such a distinguished reputation and proud history of academic excellence across many fields and as a world class centre of research.

May I congratulate you on entering the ranks of the top 100 of the Academic rankings of world universities.

It must be a special source of pride to have been the first University in the British Empire to provide free access to tertiary education. The renown of the University of Western Australia for its ethos of fair access is thus very well founded.

The importance of offering access to third-level education is a policy principle I understand. I was the first member of my family to attend university. At that time in Ireland a secondary education was a privilege while further education was viewed as the preserve of the wealthy and the elite.

This was, I know, understood by Sir John Winthrop Hackett who played such an important part in the founding of your university. John Winthrop Hackett was born in Bray, a graduate of TCD, he came to Australia in 1875.

If we are to craft a society defined by inclusion and justice, characterised by cohesion as well as competence, we must work together to make the journey through the educational landscape less arduous – removing all barriers to the achievement of the full possibility, and the realisation, of each individual’s true potential.

We are not served well if such opportunities of education are shrunk back narrowly defined as simply enhancement of the value of units of labour – education justified as simply and solely as a contribution to the labour market. Entering the doors of a university should always be an experience of encountering the fresh and invigorating air of open, pluralist thinking and the encouragement of both imagination as well as tradition.

This university has much to be proud of and has achieved such considerable success in opening the gates of possibility for students from traditionally low participation areas.

Today marks, for me, and the Irish people I represent as President of Ireland, the beginning of a further profound connection to this esteemed institute of learning – a place where generations of students have achieved, not only degrees of great distinction, but an invaluable understanding of the value and importance of independent thought and scholarly engagement.

The list of alumni of the University of Western Australia is a greatly impressive one, including so many who have made a deep and lasting impact in the worlds of politics, public service, arts, science, technology, and the business sector. I congratulate you on the connection between the university and its diverse communities.

Sabina and I are delighted Chancellor, that you have invited so many from the Irish community here this afternoon. This is our first visit to Australia, and Perth is our first port of call on this State Visit. I thank you sincerely for the warm welcome we have received.

It makes sense to begin our visit in Perth. The Irish association with Western Australia runs deep, extending back to the early days of the Swan River colony and the decision of its founders to accept transported convicts into a prison system that was, let us be frank, little less than a cruel form of slavery by another name. Their emancipation and the arrival of those who came on assisted passages led to an increase in the Irish born population of what was then a growing colony. If the Irish were about one fifth of the total of convicts transported to Australia those transported for what were called political crimes or sedition constitute a special category in history.

Indeed, this month marks the 150th anniversary of the departure of the last convict ship, The Hougoumont, from Plymouth, with its 280 convicts and 108 passengers on board. Indeed, it was an honour on Saturday last to visit Fremantle Prison and hear of the plans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Hougoumont this coming January.

Included among those on board, were sixty-two Fenian political prisoners, transported for their part in the 1867 Rising. John Boyle O’Reilly, poet and journalist, was their de facto leader. While O’Reilly would subsequently escape the penal colony, he was greatly influenced by his time in Western Australia and continued to write of that experience after he had settled in Boston.

John Boyle O’Reilly is still remembered and celebrated in the communities of Western Australia through the admirable work of the John Boyle O’Reilly Association of Bunbury, and I am grateful to them for fostering this important connection between John Boyle O’Reilly’s homeland and the place which was to impact so profoundly on his life and his writing.

Following the end of the transportation of convicts, the Irish continued to come to Western Australia, many through assisted passage. The gold rush years saw the Irish community greatly increase. Indeed, Irish engineer C. Y. O’Connor was to be a key figure to the development of a more prosperous Western Australia through his work on the construction of Freemantle Harbour and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.

Irish emigrants were also to make a significant contribution to the social needs of Western Australia, most notably through the work of the many Irish religious orders who established themselves here. The legacy of these committed nuns, priests and brothers can still be seen in the schools and hospitals of Western Australia.

In recent times, the mining and construction boom has brought many Irish people to Western Australia. As our own economy, feeling the impact of a property bubble and a bank induced crisis faced a severe contraction, Western Australia offered jobs and new opportunities to thousands of young Irish men and women and their families.

Recognising that the huge increase in the Irish population of this state required a response, the Irish Government appointed a new Honorary Consul here in 2013, and may I take this opportunity to thank Marty Kavanagh, and his partner Richard, for the generous service they provide to the Irish community here.

It is always a pleasure to be able to acknowledge and sincerely thank, representatives of our Irish communities across the globe who do so much to help each other, to support Ireland and the Irish in so many ways, and in doing so who are such valued ambassadors for Ireland.

In particular, as President of Ireland I want to thank the members of the Irish communities who extend a hand

of friendship to new waves of emigrants from Ireland, as they too begin new chapters in a country that has welcomed and supported so many of our people.

So today I would like to acknowledge and express my deepest appreciation of all of the groups and individuals who work to promote and to sustain Irish cultural and community activity here in Perth and across the State of Western Australia.

They are many - the Irish Club in Subiaco has long been a home-from-home for many Irish people who find friendship there and a place to celebrate their culture and heritage. I congratulate the Board and all those involved with the Club for their hard work and perseverance in ensuring the Club continues to be such a welcoming place for the Irish community to gather.

I thank the Claddagh Association, founded in a spirit of compassion and concern for the plight of those in the Irish community here who were facing crises or difficult times. Twenty years later, the Association continues to provide support to hundreds of Irish people in Western Australia and their families at home in Ireland. The work of the Association and its founders is greatly appreciated and has impacted so positively on the lives of many Irish citizens here and at home.

May I mention too the Irish Families in Perth who have been such a source of support, advice and friendship for so many newly arrived Irish people navigating the challenges of establishing new lives so far away from home.

Our Irish culture and heritage continues to serve as a connection for our wide extended Irish family. Western Australia is no exception and it is uplifting to hear of the vibrant cultural life that lies at the heart of the Irish community here.

Indeed, Sabina and I are greatly looking forward to seeing the ‘Sense of Ireland’ concert later this evening and may I take the opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable work of the Australian Irish Heritage Association, co-organisers of the concert, and of the work of the contributors to their monthly journal, who continue to explore the Irish legacy in Western Australia.

The celebration of so many aspects of our artistic heritage, from theatre, with the Irish Theatre Players, traditional music with Comhaltas, and dance with the many schools of Irish dancing operating in Western

Australia, is a reassuring reminder that Irish culture continues to be valued and enjoyed here, as it is in so many communities around the world

The reach and inclusivity of the Gaelic Athletic Association has always stretched far beyond Irish shores and the GAA community has provided an important sense of home and continuity for our emigrants over the years – many of them battling against a sense of displacement as they tried to create new homes around the world.

Sabina and I were honoured to attend the GAA Australasian Championships last Sunday and meet with so many players, coaches, and supporters from all across Australia and New Zealand. I take this opportunity to congratulate GAA Western Australia again for delivering an excellent Championships and for your successes on the field. I know that through the hard work of all those involved, Gaelic Games are growing in popularity in Western Australia.

Just as sport retains such power to connect our Irish family across the globe, so too our national day, St Patrick’s Day, continues to present a special opportunity to celebrate our Irishness with that extended Irish family. That is especially true here in Western Australia where the community comes together each year for a parade and family day. I am delighted that the St Patrick’s Festival Western Australia continues to go from strength to strength and I commend the Committee for their tireless dedication to this joyful showcasing of our rich Irish culture and traditions.

The success of the Irish community can be measured not just through its thriving cultural scene, but also through its contribution to the business and economic life of this city and country. The many Irish-owned businesses here in Western Australia are a testament to the involvement of the Irish community in the economy of this great State and I commend Ireland Western Australia Forum for the role it plays in connecting business communities in Australia and Ireland.

Many generations of Irish people have, across the centuries and decades that now separate us from those early days of the Swan River Colony, come here to Western Australia in search of a better future for themselves and their families. Today, their contributions and legacies are embedded deeply into the fabric of this state – in its educational institutions, its public services, its business and economic life, its spaces of culture and leisure and, of course, in the thriving communities to which they have contributed so much.

Is mór an pribhléid dom féin agus do Saibhdhín a bheith anseo libh inniu chun an oidhreacht sin a cheiliúradh, agus chun ómós a thabhairt do mhuintir na hÉireann anseo in Iarthar na hAstráile.

It is a special privilege for Sabina and I to be here with you today celebrating that legacy, and paying tribute to the work of Irish citizens in Western Australia and the many links that they have forged between Ireland and Western Australia.

What a healthy connection it is between this University and its community here in Perth. Again, may I say what a great honour it is to have been conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from a great university and also to say how moved I was to have been invited to address the Parliament of Western Australia earlier today – such a special honour to be the first Head of State to do so. This honour now, and the one earlier today, I accept on behalf of all the Irish, in all the generations, at home and abroad.

Beir beannacht.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.

Thank you.