Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 25 Jan 1996

Vol. 460 No. 5

Death of Former French President: Expression of Sympathy.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

Francois Mitterrand's election, and re-election, as President of France were evidence of his great political skills and his ability to build a majority for the centre/left in a divided nation. He came to the Elysée Palace after almost 40 years at the very centre of French politics, a Minister and party leader and as a profound political thinker and writer. His extraordinary contribution to the modernisation of Paris through a series of great projects, such as La Defense, the Bastille Opera and the reconstruction of the Louvre, will form a monument to his lengthy presidency.

Francois Mitterand united the diverse strands of the democratic socialist movement when he created the Parti Socialiste in the early seventies. He brought together Marxists and Catholic social thinkers, trade unionists and intellectuals and established structures in which they could work together for a progressive and modern France. The party has replaced the Communists as the standard bearer of the left and it has produced outstanding figures such as Jacques Delors, Michel Rocard and, most recently, Lionel Jospin who is well placed to restore a socialist presence in the Elysée. The Parti Socialiste has become a most significant force in national and international politics with which the Labour Party is happy to co-operate on many issues of mutual concern.

Francois Mitterand was a great European. His commitment to European integration was long standing, going back to the congress of the Hague and to his involvement in French Governments in the 1950s. As President, his partnership with the German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, has been a central feature of the life of European Union for more than a decade. At the heart of his European views was his conviction for the necessity of a social Europe and he saw the social dimension extending to the world stage, basing international economic relations on "respect for fundamentals — the rights of workers, of women, of children.".

In his European dealings, Francois Mitterrand often proved himself a good friend of this country and a supporter of policies which have benefited our economy. Successive Taoisigh have pointed to the examples of his understanding of Irish concerns and of practical assistance at moments of vital Irish interest.

Francois Mitterrand was a man of vision and of principle. His first act as President was to abolish the death penalty which he saw as incompatible with French civilisation. President Chirac stressed the significance of that act in his recent tribute to his predecessor. He was a strong supporter of human rights at home, in Europe and across the world, for example, in South Africa and the Middle East.

As many commentators have attested, Francois Mitterrand was a complex and controversial man. A whole library has been written about the many elements of his public and private life. He was at the centre of French and European politics for some 50 years and he was a dominant figure in both settings.

He never gave up his interest in good writing and ideas and his many books and essays reflected his deep analysis and insights. At the end, he displayed a degree of personal courage in the face of mortal illness and a remarkable philosophical approach to the mystery of death.

Francois Mitterrand was one of the truly great figures of his age and, in a period lacking perhaps in great political leadership, he was outstanding. I wish to convey my sympathy and that of the Government and my party on the death of a great Frenchman, a great socialist leader and a great European statesman.

Mr. B. Ahern

Former French President Francois Mitterrand was one of the great European leaders of our time. In his 14 years as President, with his German counterpart, Chancellor Kohl, he continued the creative and constructive Franco-German leadership of the European Community, now the European Union, from its beginning. He was a man of breadth and vision, tempered by Government experience stretching back to the end of the Second World War.

Francois Mitterrand had a political career of astonishing length, spanning ministerial office in the Fourth Republic, a prolonged spell in Opposition under the Fifth Republic and, finally, two terms as President. Involved both in the Vichy regime and the Resistance, a right winger turned socialist, he faced problems of domestic political instability in the 1950s and colonial wars. He provided honourable domestic opposition to the charismatic authority of Charles de Gaulle.

Ironically, his advent to office consolidated the institutions of the Fifth Republic by putting them through the test of democratic alternation and cohabitation. Although he brought the Communist Party which dominated many of the trade unions into Government, he crushed them in the embrace of power, leaving them much reduced on the margins, their dominance of the French Left lost forever. Not for nothing was he nicknamed "the Florentine".

Like Ireland a few years earlier, his first Government in the early 1980s attempted a one-country reflation as a means of fighting the effects of international recession, the failure of which experiment pushed him toward a more coherent European strategy.

In concert with Chancellor Kohl former President Mitterrand played a key role in a remarkable number of strategic initiatives to revitalise a stagnant European Community and economy. The Community and Union were enlarged to include, first, the Mediterranean and then the Nordic countries. The Single European Act came to pass, followed by the Maastricht Treaty establishing European Union and the parameters of economic and monetary union. In the interim, reaching its climax during the highly successful Irish Presidency of 1990, Germany was reunited. The European Community assisted the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to emerge from Communist tyranny.

Former President Mitterrand, continuing an age old French policy, was sympathetic to the political and economic needs of Central and Eastern Europe and was a strong supporter of President Gorbachev. One of his most important legacies was the appointment in 1985 of his former French Minister, Jacques Delors, as President of the European Commission.

Former President Mitterrand was also a good friend of Ireland. He supported and assisted Ireland and the Mediterranean countries on two separate occasions to obtain a doubling of European Union Structural Funds which underpin much of our capital investment today. He enjoyed an excellent relationship with successive Taoisigh, as both Dr. Garrett FitzGerald and Charles Haughey will testify. French support also enabled former Deputy Ray MacSharry to become the European Commissioner for Agriculture. Indeed the MacSharry CAP reform package, assailed at the time, has become vital to the livelihood of Irish farmers.

Former President Mitterrand will also be remembered and admired for his mark on the French capital, in the tradition of other great French rulers since the 17th century — La Defense, the Pyramid at the Louvre, housing the world's greatest museum, an Arab Studies Institute, a new Opera House at the Bastille, a new National Library all being among his monuments. Indeed our National Library could benefit from a fraction of the same support the French Socialist President gave to one of the most basic elements in any national cultural heritage. We will look back on his Presidency with regret and nostaligia.

We convey our sympathies to the French Ambassador and the French people.

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

Francois Mitterrand as President of France and as a man who had seen the horror of war at first hand, worked tirelessly to create a political union in Europe that would banish war forever from our continent. His vision enabled him to give a political leadership that overcame temporary or technical setbacks in the construction of the European Union. His distinguished career in the service of his country, culminating in 14 years which he served as President of the French Republic, will remain as a tribute to him. He was truly a stateman of world stature. He was also, as the Tánaiste has said, a very good friend to Ireland both in our bilateral relations with France and in the context of Ireland's membership of the European Union.

Francois Mitterrand, more than most, understood the importance of perseverance and fortitude in the face of adversity — qualities that I wish he was here to talk to me about. Throughout his life he faced daunting challenges and many setbacks. He refused to abandon his principles and objectives. In no episode in his life did he display his outstanding courage and fortitude more than in his final illness. In his ability to give practical effect to his ideals through the adoption of pragmatic and effective measures he set an example for us all.

His death marks the passing of one of the outstanding persons of his generation, a generation which managed to steer Europe from the vicious cycle of conflict and war to the path of integration, prosperity, democracy and peace. We who have never experienced the horrors of war must ensure that the achievements of Francois Mitterrand and his generation are never forgotten and are consolidated and enhanced.

I extend my deepest sympathy to his family and to the people of France.

Miss Harney

The death of Francois Mitterrand marks the end of the Second World War generation of French politicians. Perhaps his greatest achievement was serving in two consecutive terms as President of the Fifth Republic, whose architect was his long time opponent Charles de Gaulle.

Despite his traditional left wing background, Francois Mitterrand transcended the traditional left-right divide in French politics. He modernised and liberalised the French economy. He moved it away from being a highly regulated State dominated economy to being a liberal modern European economy. In his passing, Ireland has lost a great friend and France has lost a loyal son.

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

I was saddened to learn earlier this month of the death of former French President, Francois Mitterrand. He came to political maturity as the continent emerged from the shadows of World War II and he left political life while Europe was coming to terms with the troubled legacy of the Cold War.

His passing brings to a close a crucial period not only in the history of postwar France but also in the development of the European Union. Francois Mitterrand is probably the last European statesman whose politics were forged in the conflagration of World War II. His role during that period, and in particular his associations with the Vichy regime, have been surrounded by controversy. That controversy is unlikely to abate with his death but it should not be allowed to obscure his very real achievements.

During his term of office, Francois Mitterrand witnessed enormous changes in Europe. When he entered office there were just nine members of the European Community, when he retired that had mushroomed to 15 and the number of applicant countries had spiralled. Many of those applicant countries were, and are, seeking stability in the midst of social and political upheaval. The promise of perestroika and the concept of a “Common European Home” had been swiftly overtaken by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Yeltsin regime and unfettered, rampant capitalism.

Having survived the horrors of World War II, President Mitterrand recognised the dangers inherent in mindless nationalism and he recognised that the best guarantee against resurgent nationalism was the development of a strong and vibrant European Community.

Together with former Commission President Jacques Delors, Francois Mitterrand placed the social dimension at the centre of the European idea. It is unfortunate that some in Europe, who see it as little more than a free market, are seeking to replace that with a very narrow view of Europe.

It is a tribute to Francois Mitterrand's strength of character that he was able to forge alliances — national and international — with people holding political views vastly different from his own. Domestically, he forged an alliance — albeit a short-lived one — with the Communist Party which ushered in post-war France's first left of centre Government. In European terms, he formed an enduring relationship with Chancellor Helmut Kohl — a relationship which transcended fundamental ideological differences in the interests of European cohesion.

As a socialist and as a democrat, Francois Mitterrand placed accommodation, co-operation and consensus above narrow dogmatism. In the course of an often troubled career he learned what some never accept, that compromise requires courage, but that mere expediency is never a substitute for the politics of conviction. That ability to compromise was both his greatest strength and, perhaps in some cases, his greatest weakness.

The jury is still out on Francois Mitterrand's long-term legacy to the Fifth Republic. The few words we might say here today cannot give credit to the depth and the breadth of that legacy. His greatest legacy to the European Union is that of social solidarity and inclusiveness. It is a legacy we would do well to hold on to.

Members rose in their places.