The President, Mrs McAleese, on the first day of a two-day visit to Liverpool yesterday, welcomed the "historic" occasion of the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair's address to both Houses of the Oireachtas tomorrow as a "tremendous reassurance" that both governments were working to the same agenda on Northern Ireland.
Mrs McAleese said Mr Blair's visit was particularly timely when the peace process was unfolding as it should and demonstrated that both governments were working in a "collegial and fluent and compatible" way in their commitment to Northern Ireland. The symbolism of the address further embedded the mature relationship between Ireland and Britain and would serve as an important statement about the way the peace process was being driven forward, she said.
During a packed day of engagements, Mrs McAleese, who was accompanied by her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, unveiled a memorial dedicated to the Irish Famine in the grounds of St Luke's Churchyard in the centre of Liverpool.
The monument, a four-metre granite stone with a bronze cross inscribed in Irish and English "Remember the Great Famine 1845-52" was designed by Mr Eamonn O'Doherty and was commissioned by the Great Famine Commemoration Committee (Liverpool) after lobbying by the Labour MP, Mr Kevin McNamara. As a group of some 300 people gathered in the ruins of the church, which was destroyed in 1941 by German bombers, Mrs McAleese recalled that the catastrophic events of the Famine had not only marked the development of modern Ireland but had shaped the development of Australia, Canada, the US and modern Britain.
Delivering a lecture at John Moore's University last night, Mrs McAleese said she hoped a new concept of Irish citizenship was developing where all the citizens of the island of Ireland would have a sense of ownership and citizenship of their place.
Earlier Mrs McAleese attended the John Moore's University autumn award ceremony at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, where an honorary fellowship was conferred on her. Last night Mrs McAleese met representatives of the Irish community at a reception in the University of Liverpool. She will return to Dublin later today.