Speech by Minister Martin at SIPTU Biennial Conference

6 October 2005 – Silver Springs Hotel

I am particularly glad to speak to you today against the background of Cork’s designation as European Capital of Culture 2005. A remarkably diverse programme of activities is being pursued under this banner here in the real capital of Ireland. I hope that Jack and his team have allowed you some free time to attend and enjoy some of its events.

Cultural issues such as political discourse, dance, literature, music, theatre, migration and community have formed a backdrop to this great city’s day-to-day life in 2005. We have extended a welcome to all comers, be they event participants, culture programme visitors or trade unionists. Corkonians have always loved to join in every debate about what is best for the world, what is best for the economy, what is best for society, and more particularly, what is best for Cork. We in Cork engage in argument as well as art: we thrive on politics as well as music. I won’t even mention the rebel treble.

I am also pleased to be here this evening because it gives me an opportunity to salute the men and women of our trade unions, as well as the social commitment and idealism which you have.

Historically, there has always been a kind of creative tension between this kind of idealism and nationalism. On a personal level, this has always interested me. And while I was a post-graduate student in UCC, the relationship between the Labour movement and the emergence of Fianna Fail during the 1920s was the subject of my MA thesis. It is true that at that time, Labour’s decision to support the nationalist parties to consolidate the political aspects of Irish independence cost it some votes, especially in the crucial election in 1918. However, the high vote which Labour got here in Cork in the elections of June 1922 also showed that workers’ rights and welfare had to be accommodated within the agenda of any viable political party in the new state.

If freedom meant anything, it had to mean a freedom to be independent economically and socially, as well as politically.

This was a message which De Valera took up with great energy after he founded Fianna Fail in 1926. And it is a message which is as true today as it was then. This is not a matter of ideology or class. But of seeing social and political progress being driven by all types of movements, some of which are political, some religious, some workers-based, some business-based, some farmers-based, and so forth.

In the past, there has been a tendency to see these groups as mutually antagonistic. They are not. They all overlap if only because they have one great thing in common: what is best for the country, and for each and every one of our citizens who work and live in it. These days, it is called social partnership. It is not any longer the case that the interests of any one group are, or should be, subject to those of another. But that instead, social progress and economic prosperity, or perhaps of more importance, economic stability, can be assured by partnership.

This is not something that I say lightly, because the effects of social partnership and dialogue are there for all to see as a matter of fact. It is not a talking shop. It has yielded real results. It is the corner-stone of the Celtic Tiger. And make no mistake about it, it has been made possible not just by the participation of the trade unions but by the men and women of the trade union movement who have made the Celtic Tiger roar.

However, partnership is also a process and that as such, it requires continuing analysis, development, and innovation. We often celebrate its successes and its benefits but if we are to improve its effectiveness, we must also focus on improvements.

On the positive side, the most notable advances have been in the area of pay...

During the course of the most recent two national agreements, the pay terms have given workers pay increases of almost 30%. Inflation is now just 2.3%. Unemployment is just 4.2%. Who believed this was achievable when the Programme for National Recovery was agreed in 1987? This Government is investing to an unprecedented extent in health, education, transport, housing. Huge investment has been made in these services and the fruits of this are becoming evident. New schools, roads and motorways are being opened and the reorganisation of the health sector into a world-class service is well underway, while residents at Dublin’s Fatima Mansions received the keys to their brand new houses just this week.