I move:
That, to welcome the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Robert J. L. Hawke, M.P., to Ireland and to mark his visit in a signal manner, the Prime Minister be invited to address the Dáil at its meeting of Wednesday, 21 October, 1987; that the proceedings on that day commence with a speech by the Ceann Comhairle welcoming the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's address and an expression of thanks by the Ceann Comhairle for the address; and that the sitting be thereupon suspended until 2.30 p.m.
The visit to Ireland by Prime Minister Hawke in his capacity as Head of the Australian Government will be the first official visit to our shores by an Australian Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will be warmly welcomed in Ireland and it is right that he should be afforded the courtesies appropriate to his position and to the relationship between our two countries. The links between Ireland and Australia go back to the foundation of that great nation. I am happy to say that these links, based on personal associations, historic bonds and shared values have been complemented in recent years by an increase in contacts at State and Government level. President Hillery was received with the greatest courtesy and warmth when he visited Australia in 1985, the first visit by an Irish Head of State. Over the past few years many Australian Ministers have visited Ireland including the Foreign Minister, Mr. Bill Hayden, who came here last May. An official visit by the Australian Head of Government is, therefore, both welcome and appropriate at this time.
It is particularly appropriate that Prime Minister Hawke is able to accept our invitation just a few months before the beginning of the Australian bicentennial celebrations. Next year will be a year of great retrospection and celebration for Australia, that vast island continent which has developed over the past two centuries into the modern, prosperous and progressive nation it is today. The Government are grateful for the invitation from the Australian Government to participate in these celebrations. Ireland wishes to honour Australia; we also wish to recall and pay a tribute to the massive contribution that Irish men and women have made to Australian life and achievement. Three out of eight Australians today are of Irish origin or descent. Of the eight Australian Prime Ministers who held office between 1929 and 1949 six were of Irish descent. That makes Australia a very Irish country indeed.
Of all the Irish communities around the world none is more readily identifiable, more vibrant or of greater importance in the land of their adoption that the Irish in Australia. They are far away; they have been fully integrated into Australian life but they are still bound to us by close and enduring ties. The visit of the Prime Minister provides us with an opportunity to expand and deepen our links with this splendid community of the Irish overseas and express our pride in their pre-eminence.
As an expression of our great goodwill towards Australia the Irish Australian Bicentennial Committee, under the chairmanship of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, have prepared a programme of events to mark the year. Principal among those is the gift of a microfilm copy of the 40,000 Irish convict records in the State Paper Office which we will present to Australia, where the people's interest in their heritage and past is growing. The committee will also send a rich exhibition of our gold and silver treasures from the National Museum, to demonstrate the ancient and highly developed civilisation that is part of the Australian heritage as well as ours.
I know that the Prime Minister's visit will heighten awareness here at home of the Irish contribution to Australian life. It will also focus Australian attention on Ireland. Until now only a very small percentage of the many Australian tourists who arrive in Europe each year come to Ireland. We plan to increase that number. We must also expand our business links with Australia and seek to promote more Australian investment here. The increase in recent years in the number of emigrants, many of them from the young skilled sector to Australia represents a great national loss. Our regret is mollified, however, by the knowledge that the modern multicultural society of Australia is a good place for the Irish, and offers them the prospect of a rewarding and satisfactory future.
The visit of Prime Minister Hawke to us is an honour. We see it as a further event in a story which stretches over two centuries, a story full of sadness and deprivation but a story too of great achievement, of heroism and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. The visit will further improve relations between our two countries and bring us closer together, two friendly nations who, in this troubled world, trust and respect each other.
