The message of Dr Douglas Hyde, the Republic's first president, is that barriers between differing traditions in Ireland should not be broken down by threat or stealth, the President, Mrs McAleese, said yesterday. She was speaking at a reception in Aras an Uachtarain to mark the 50th anniversary of Dr Hyde's death. Mrs McAleese said the barriers will not be broken down by attempting to eradicate differences or by accepting others "only when they think like us, act like us". She added that all must be offered the opportunity to share and appreciate aspects of Irish culture, "decoupled from the baggage of history. . .".
Earlier in the day, Mrs McAleese had planted a Cornish elm in the grounds of the Aras, grown from cuttings from a tree planted in 1939 by Dr Hyde. His tree fell victim in 1985 to Dutch elm disease and was cut down.
The President described Dr Hyde as a Protestant who was also a nationalist and a man from an English-speaking family who became a central figure in the movement to preserve the Irish language and culture.
In founding the Gaelic League, Mrs McAleese said, Dr Hyde brought together people of different religious, social and political traditions - but in a shared celebration of Irish culture. "For a brief time, he opened up a window of opportunity where those traditions could embrace in mutual respect."
That window soon closed as the Gaelic League became entwined with the political agenda of the independence movement. "It provides a salient reminder of how easily such initiatives can be appropriated by the wider issues of the day, how easily hope can be still-born," she said. It was appropriate that they should be gathering on July 12th - "a date which has such a potent significance for so many on this island".
At the reception, Prof Brian Farrell, chairman of the Arts Council of Ireland, and Mr Brian Walker, chairman of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, spoke on the theme of Douglas Hyde and an island of cultural diversity.