I HAVE recently returned from Latin America where I paid an official visit to Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. These countries have not traditionally been high on our national agenda. Distance and alternative preoccupations have, perhaps inevitably, curtailed our connections with them. We are now trying to make up for lost time.
I was the first Irish Foreign Minister to visit Argentina and Bolivia. In Bolivia, I attended a conference designed to foster closer relations between Europe and Latin America now that the countries of that region are undergoing so many positive changes.
They are engineering a resurgence of their democratic traditions while a new economic dynamism is in evidence there. There are many good reasons for Ireland and Europe to cultivate better relations with the South American continent at this time. Not least among these is a shared responsibility to deal with the pernicious international trade in narcotics with its extremely damaging social consequences.
I was impressed by what I saw of Latin America's economic and political progress and would encourage relevant Irish companies to work on developing their commercial links in the region.
That, however, is not what I want to write about on this occasion. For me, the most striking experience of this visit was to be brought into contact, for the first time, with an aspect of the Irish diaspora that deserves to be better known than it currently is. I refer to this country's historical links with Latin America.
While in Chile, I laid a wreath at the country's national monument, dedicated to memory of Bernardo O Higgins, who was instrumental during the last century in securing the country's independence from Spain. In Argentina, the memory of Admiral William Mayo, founder of the Argentine navy and a key figure in their struggle for independence, is still revered.
What most impressed me, however, was not these particular 19th century historical connections between Ireland and the countries of Latin America, important though they are as an offshoot of this country's links with Spain.
It is the existence of living Irish ties in the region that represents its most immediate appeal from an Irish point of view. Chief among these is the 300,000 strong community of Argentinians of Irish descent.
During my two days in Buenos Aires for discussions with President Menem and other political leaders, I met many members of this Argentinian Irish community. Their names speak eloquently of their Irish origins: Dillon, Lynch, Quinn, McLoughlin, Brady, O'Durnin, Clancy, Howlin, Delaney, Flynn, Ryan, O'Farrell, to name but a few.
Many possess an entirely Irish genealogy. Their families have been in the country for generations, as an inspection of the names on the impressive funerary monuments in the beautiful old Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires confirms.
Nor are today's Argentinian Irish the product of a small scale, aristocratic emigration. Irish people went in substantial numbers to Argentina in the middle of the last century, mainly to work the farms of the country's vast plains.
This was the largest outflow of Irish emigrants to a non English speaking destination. Most were from the Westmeath Longford area and from Co Wexford. Irish religious came in their wake to tend to their spiritual needs, and quite a number of leading Argentinian schools have Irish connections.
A Galway priest, Father Anthony Fahy, encouraged many 19th century Irish emigrants to make new homes for themselves in Argentina. His efforts are reflected in the substantial number of Irish names in the Buenos Aires telephone directory.
His work among the Irish in Argentina is commemorated in a fine monument in the Recoleta Cemetery, executed by a Dublin firm of monumental sculptors and shipped, out to Buenos Aires. His memory also lives on in the Fahy Club made up of past pupils of the Fahy Institute, a co educational school run by the Pallottine Fathers.
THE PEOPLE I met in Buenos Aires cherish their Irish ancestry. For the most part, their families have lived in a predominantly Spanish speaking environment for well over a century. All have Spanish as their mother tongue, but many also speak English.
The Irish in Argentina are an integral part of the fabric of this society of emigrants and are proud of their Argentinian citizenship. I was assured that they would cheer for Argentina rather than Ireland in a soccer or rugby match between the two countries. Yet they preserve their Irish identity with great determination.
While many may never have been to Ireland, they are eager to express, their sense of Irishness, as an integral part of their Argentinian identity. There is a thriving network of Irish societies in Argentina, linked by a federation which brings together representatives of communities of Irish descent. This little known part of the Irish diaspora was given a tremendous lift by President Robinson's visit to Argentina last year.
During my visit, I had the pleasure of visiting the Hurling Club of Buenos Aires. Hurling was played by the Irish in Argentina from the late 19th century onwards.
Official leagues were organised under the auspices of the Argentine Hurling Association. These survived until the outbreak of the second World War when a shortage of hurleys, or clerical disapproval of excessively physical exchanges during hurling matches, brought an end to Argentina's hurling tradition. The club now excels at rugby and hockey.
It was a memorable experience to see the green jersey, complete with shamrock, worn with distinction by the players of the Hurling Club such names as Scully, Rush, and McAllister - in a match against the Rugby Club of Buenos Aires.
The Hurling Club has just won promotion to Argentina's first division, and its players will this season be testing their skills against the cream of the country's rugby talent.
The Argentinian Irish are determined to preserve their Irish connections. They would like their role in the Irish diaspora to be more fully recognised in this country and are keen to encourage greater economic, cultural and sporting ties with Ireland.
Their presence in Argentinian society should be an asset to Irish companies intent on doing business there. They are working towards an Argentinian entry in the Rose of Tralee Festival, a project naturally close to my heart.
Latin America's impressive recent revival provides new openings for productive contact with countries like Argentina. The tyranny of distance is no longer as inhibiting a factor as it was in the past. Both countries are now more open to the world than ever before.
This provides an unprecedented opportunity to rediscover an almost forgotten aspect of the heritage we have in common. During my visit, I was at pains to stress Ireland's advantages as a gateway into the EU.