It is my pleasure to welcome the prestigious World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum to Dublin.

Ireland has a long tradition of journalism and newsprint. Because we are an island people and because of our history of emigration, our instinct is to look outwards. We have an abiding curiosity about the world around us. Irish people are voracious readers. We consume far more than our share of newsprint. Newspapers have always been part of our life. They are in every home practically every day.

National and local papers alike are part of the fabric of our culture.

Information technology has transformed our world. What was science fiction a short time ago is now standard in millions of homes. With each new technological advance, the end of newspapers as we have known them has been predicted. But, far from fading as technology advances, newspapers have thrived in Ireland.

Indeed our local newspapers have undergone something of a renaissance. In this, the most globalised economy in the world, the need for local information remains insatiable. From sports, to politics, to death columns, the news of ones own locality is eagerly awaited each week in the pages of the local newspaper.

The national scene is likewise well served by many titles that give Irish readers a wide choice of newspapers every day. And, by and large, a quality and depth of coverage which ensures that we have a well-informed not to say opinionated! readership.

Newspapers can set or alter the political agenda. They can make a real difference and often, on a daily basis, they do make a real difference. They inform us. They entertain us. They can infuriate us at times. They can make life difficult for politicians. But they are an essential part of democratic life. And, we cannot do without them.

With the increasing speed of communications, the role of the newspaper in society has become more, not less, important. The sheer speed and volume of modern communications carries the real risks of both information overload and a culture of intolerance. The very power of the visual image can crowd out rational and reflective debate. Newspapers can and do provide an essential space for reflection and debate on both the issues of the day and the underlying influences and trends that shape the lives of their readers.

As many of you will be aware, Ireland has experienced an unprecedented period of economic, social and political progress over the last decade and a half. This progress has been the subject of much commentary and analysis both at home and abroad.

There are a number of underlying elements which have contributed to our success.

Enhancing Irelands economic and social capacity to deal with the new world economy is a key priority for this Government. Investment in education has ensured that Irish citizens are equipped to profit from the opportunities and meet the challenges of an increasingly globalised economy. A concentrated effort to address the equality agenda and to safeguard the rights of the disadvantaged and minorities within society has enhanced the inclusive nature of Irish society.

We have put in place economic policies which reward enterprise, encourage employment and guarantee a stable policy framework over the long term. We have created a partnership between Government and the economic and social parties in society. This partnership approach has been a real strength over the last decade and a half.

We have indeed made freedom and fairness the cornerstones of our national and local policy. 

And over the last decade in particular we have worked to achieve lasting peace and stability in Northern Ireland. Together with the British Government, we have sought to ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. This landmark Agreement remains the only sustainable basis for a fair and honourable accommodation. It has already brought great gains and tangible benefits to the people of Northern Ireland. Over the last number of months we have been seeking to bring to finality, and to give full effect to, all aspects of this Agreement.

The story of Irelands peace efforts has been covered around the world. It is a positive story of vision and courage which has also given inspiration to other troubled locations.

The gap we now have to close is narrow in relation to the chasm we have already bridged. However, it is a vital gap and one that cannot be left open. It is proving difficult to get the commitments now required to ensure trust and confidence among the parties. Elections have been postponed. Frustration is evident and understandable. However, the immense benefits that would flow to the people of Northern Ireland from overcoming these difficulties, in terms of economic stability and progress, increased investment and better opportunities for cross border trade and tourism, are a prize worth striving for.

All parties must help to find a way out of the current impasse to ensure that the Agreement succeeds and delivers on the promise of a new and peaceful society in Northern Ireland. My government remains 100% committed to this task.

We greatly appreciate the role that the international media has played in ensuring that Irelands extensive communities in other countries have remained informed about developments in Ireland particularly in relation to the peace process. Indeed, the support of the Irish abroad has been an enormous boost to our efforts.

Throughout our history we have suffered long periods of both political and economic distress. As a small nation on the periphery of Europe, we have recognised the vital importance of being part of and actively participating in the international community.

This is why membership of the European Union is so vital for us.

Irelands membership of the EU has been integral to our engagement with the wider world. A free, prosperous and united Europe has been both an objective and requirement for all Irish Governments since the 1960s. Our commitment to the European Union has served us well. And we believe that commitment has also helped Europe.

The framework of political and economic cooperation provided by the European Union has allowed Ireland to break free from what was once a marginal economic position. It has opened new opportunities to Irish citizens and businesses.

We have worked within the European Union to ensure that the principles of equality and fairness inform its procedures and policies.

Currently the European Union is reviewing and amending its constitutional basis. The Convention on the Future of Europe is nearing the conclusion of its work. Together with our European partners, we are trying to develop and agree the institutional and policy framework for the EU over the coming decades. 

It is vitally important work. We have to get it right. The new Constitutional Treaty must reaffirm and consolidate the basic economic, social and cultural freedoms on which the European Union has been built.

In judging this initiative, we will have a simple litmus test. Are we strengthening or weakening the community that lies at the heart of the European Union?

We are building a community not a free trade area. That community must have strong and independent institutions and policies which generate real economic and social cohesion across the Member States.

The European Union itself, of course, is not capable on its own of creating a stable and prosperous world. This is why Ireland and the EU have sought to strengthen the multilateral institutions that underpin the international order.

The challenge facing the world is to ensure that the rapid change that we have been experiencing results in economic and social progress across the globe.

We need a concerted and global effort to address the challenge of an increasingly divided and dangerous world.

The post cold war order has brought unprecedented change and many benefits. But since the fall of the Iron Curtain in particular the world has also become less certain.

We may no longer live in a world dominated by the real fear of nuclear holocaust. And the spread of democracy across the world in the last fifteen years would have been unthinkable at the beginning of the 1980s.

But the optimism of a decade ago has been dented.  There are a number of worrying trends. New instabilities and tensions have developed.  The world community is increasingly inter-linked and inter-connected. As globalisation has advanced, so too has global inter-dependence. Ireland has been well placed to take advantage of this globalising trend. Here in this country, our lives and our economy have been transformed, very largely for the better.

At the same time, if globalisation created unprecedented opportunity, it is also accompanied, world-wide, by difficult and resilient challenges. These include lack of development and economic marginalisation for billions of people; international terrorism; weapons of mass destruction; and organised crime to name but a few of the more prominent.

Only a shared international approach to shared problems stands any real chance of success. Such an approach needs both to be broadly accepted as legitimate and to be effective in meeting its agreed objectives.

The United Nations must remain the central pillar of this international order. Ireland will both on its own initiative and, as part of the EU, work over the coming years to strengthen the UN’s role and capacity.  This approach has long been at the heart of Irelands contribution to international affairs. It informed our conduct as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2001 and 2002. And it will guide our conduct of the Presidency of the European Union in 2004.

In this spirit Ireland will seek to develop the policies of the union to ensure that Europe will play the role that it should play on the world stage. We will work for a more effective United Nations and we will aim for close, practical and mutually-respectful relations between the European Union and the United States of America. Addressing the most intractable problems in our world demands positive and stable transatlantic relations.

Global and regional institutions are already in place to handle most of the challenges and needs of our peoples. What we need increasingly to ensure is that these institutions work effectively in tackling the problems they were set up to address. 

Over the last decade or more the world community has set itself ambitious targets in relation to poverty, environmental obligations, AIDS and climate change, to name but a few of the most pressing problems facing it.

We must now move from target setting to implementation and results. As in every area of human endeavour the principles of freedom and fairness must underpin our approach. These principles need to be applied at the local, national and global level if humanity is to have any hope of full use of the opportunities open to it.

The relationship between the developed and developing world must be deepened if the global community is to have any hope of building true stability and prosperity. Your next speaker, Bono, has been an eloquent and effective advocate of the need for a fairer relationship between rich and poor countries.  We in Ireland applaud his successful efforts in raising the conscience of the world on global inequality, injustice and the scourge of AIDS.

Ireland, together with all United Nations member countries has committed itself to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, which include halving the number of people living in absolute poverty and extreme hunger by 2015. The key to success is the provision of resources for development and fair access to global markets. In this endeavour we will be judged by our deeds, not our words.

This is why Ireland, even at a time of economic downturn and fiscal constraints has set itself the goal of reaching the target of 0.7% of GNP dedicated to overseas development assistance by 2007. We will play a constructive role, with our EU partners, in fashioning a new World Trade Agreement. We will seek to ensure that the crippling burden of poor country debt remains at the centre of the development agenda. And we will continue to press the cause of development and human rights in every available forum.

The developed world has a duty to, and a self-interest in, supporting the developing world. Failure to take the development challenge seriously will make it impossible to defeat the scourge of international terrorism. The world could equally slip into a vicious circle of terror, followed by reaction, followed by more terror. Lack of trust and hope creates the conditions where lawlessness and terror can thrive.

The newspaper industry can play a key role in ensuring that the complexity of the challenges facing the world, and the simplicity of the key principles of fairness and freedom which must inform the solutions, get a proper airing.

Newspapers themselves, of course, are a key symbol of freedom. As Edward Murrow said, Most of us feel we probably couldn’t be free without newspapers&. that is the real reason we want newspapers to be free.

In conclusion then, I wish you a productive and enjoyable stay in Dublin. 

Thank You