PRESIDENT MARY McAleese has paid tribute to the ties that bind Ireland and Argentina as the country celebrates the 200th anniversary of the revolution that led to independence from Spain.
In a letter to her Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Mrs McAleese congratulated the country on its bicentenary. She noted that Argentina was the first country to recognise Ireland as a sovereign state. This, Mrs McAleese said, had never been forgotten by the people of Ireland.
“Nor have we forgotten the welcome extended by the young Argentine republic to the many Irish in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who found a better life in a new land; and whose contribution to the development of Argentina we are also proud to celebrate at this important time,” she said.
“I am certain that relations between our two countries will continue to flourish, and wish that Argentina may enjoy peace and prosperity for many years to come.”
Mrs McAleese yesterday hosted Argentina’s ambassador to Ireland Maria Esther Teresa Bondanza and other members of the Argentine community at a reception at Áras an Uachtaráin to mark the anniversary. The reception was followed by another bicentenary event at the Mansion House in Dublin yesterday evening.
Several visiting heads of state and dignitaries attended Argentina’s formal celebrations in the capital, Buenos Aires, last night.
A number of events will take place in Dublin this week to mark Argentina’s milestone. Dublin’s Lord Mayor Emer Costello will today preside over a ceremony at Admiral Brown Way on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay to pay tribute to Brown, a Mayo-born emigrant whose role in Argentina’s war of independence was such that he is regarded as a national hero.
Brown, who founded Argentina’s maritime forces and served as its first admiral, is commonly known as the “father of the Argentine navy”. In 2006, then taoiseach Bertie Ahern unveiled a statue of Brown on Admiral Brown Way.
On Friday, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin will celebrate Mass with the papal nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook to mark the anniversary. The Mass will be followed by a reception for the Argentine community in Ireland.