The visit by President and Dr McAleese from the 19^th to the 22^nd of June will remain in my memory for a long time to come. During those glorious few days, we got to witness, once again, the vibrancy and energy of the Irish community in Toronto and also saw why Toronto is considered to be one of the world’s great cities.

The President’s official programme began on Wednesday morning with a series of meetings with the Board of the Ireland Park Foundation and the Board of the Ireland Fund for Canada.

As many of you will know, the period just before the President’s visit was a time of extraordinary changes in the political landscape of Northern Ireland. It was therefore opportune that the President met with the Board of the Ireland Fund of Canada to express her deep appreciation of the Fund’s work for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.  While a lot has now been achieved in Northern Ireland, a great deal still remains to be done, especially in the area of building trust between the two communities. The President urged the Fund to continue their excellent wok in this area.

The Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise Ireland co-hosted a business luncheon which was attended by almost 600 people. The President, the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise Ireland all stressed the importance of building on our existing economic relationships. Judging by the numbers that attended the lunch, there is a great interest in doing business with Ireland and it is incumbent on all involved, both the Irish Government agencies and the private sector to strive to develop these ties.

Later that evening, the President met with over 600 people representing most of the Irish community organisations in Ontario at a reception in her honour at the in the Fairmont Royal York. The President was delighted to walk around the room and meet so many of you and she was deeply honoured by the response she got from everyone she met.

Following the reception, the President attended the wonderful concert at the Roy Thompson Hall featuring performances by Loreena McKennitt, the Irish Tenors and the Canadian debut of Patrick Cassidy’s Famine Remembrance symphony performed by Toronto Mendelssohn Choir & Festival Orchestra. It was a perfect ending to the first day in Toronto.

On Thursday morning, President and Dr McAleese visited St. Paul’s School and St. James’ Cemetery, both the sites of famine graves. At St Paul’s, we were treated to a wonderful performance of Irish song and dance by the school’s musicians and dancers, while the visit to St James’ Cemetery provided a reflective moment for the President to remember those from the Protestant traditions who died in 1847 and to dedicate a memorial to those who lie in an unmarked grave.

And then, of course, we had the official opening of Ireland Park by the President and Dr McAleese in the company of the Federal Minister for Finance, Jim Flaherty, the Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, the Mayor of Toronto, David Miller and Archbishops Collins and Finlay

On that splendid Toronto summer day, I am sure all of you will agree that the Park looked absolutely stunning. The President and Dr McAleese were overjoyed at the reception they received from the capacity crowd of 2,500 upon their arrival on stage. Both were once again impressed by the overwhelming support the Park has received from the Irish Community in Toronto. In the presence of the Mayor, the President thanked his predecessors and the citizens of Toronto for what they did during the summer of 1847 and also the current Council for donating the land upon which the Park stands.   The President also thanked the Federal and Provincial governments for their financial contributions to the project and noted that the Irish government’s decision to donate CDN $500,000 to the project indicated the importance of the project for the government and people of Ireland.