President finds time for Halifax relatives

A naval band played Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory as the President, Mrs McAleese, progressed from the auditorium of St Mary'…

A naval band played Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory as the President, Mrs McAleese, progressed from the auditorium of St Mary's University, where an honorary doctorate in civil law was conferred upon her yesterday. The programme said the music would be God Save The Queen. It wasn't played.

In a ceremonial black gown and hat, the President led the academic procession past a couple of hundred guests, including many of her own relatives, whose antecedents had emigrated to Halifax earlier this century.

A week to the day after her arrival in Canada, the President last night took an evening off from official engagements to attend a party for some 50 of her relations, hosted by her second cousin, Father Albert Cosgrove, of the parish of St Agnes. The eldest relative was 91.

They are descendants of Mrs McAleese's great-grand-aunt, Isabella McCullagh, who left Ireland with 11 siblings and 12 children. Among the guests was Mr John Cosgrove, who was a close aide of the former premier of Nova Scotia, Mr John Savage, and Lynn Donahoe, a former Canadian iceskating champion.

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In his address the President of St Mary's, Dr Kenneth Ozmon, said the university's Irish heritage was evident in the names of the former presidents. They were now gathered in the McNally Building. It was a past that had had a profound impact. Founded in 1802 by the Irish, it was the first Catholic university in Canada and was run by the de la Salle order, the Irish Christian Brothers and latterly the Jesuits.

Mrs McAleese, referring to Ireland's contribution to Canada, said she often wondered what would have happened if the genius that had left had stayed at home. Without the Christian Brothers and the Mercy nuns, she said, many would not have been educated.

But Ireland now stood on the edge of a charmed circle. There was an economic boom and political progress. She paid tribute to the work of Gen John de Chastelain, Judge Hoyt and Prof Shearing and to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell - who was on the platform with her, having joined her party yesterday - for their work on the peace process.

On Thursday Mrs McAleese and her party flew from Montreal to Cape Breton, the island at the northern tip of Nova Scotia, and were driven to Fort Louisburg, a reconstruction of the 17th-century French fortress which was taken twice by the English. Its citizens were expelled to France or fled to French-held Louisiana.

The windswept fort, on a bleak promontory sticking out into the Atlantic, is now a national historic site of Canada, and the presidential party viewed various scenes from the past. Actors in period costume paraded and danced.

The presidential party then headed off in a long motorcade to the University of Cape Breton in Sydney through landscape which could have been Irish but for the glorious golden and red fall trees, the width of the highways and the well-spaced, brightly-painted clapboard houses.

She was greeted by five students from the Mik'maq tribe, the indigenous people, kneeling on grass, beating drums and singing a traditional welcome. One was partIrish and had the name McGuigan.

It was a cultural occasion. The President was entertained by a variety of events: Mik'maq poetry and handcrafts, choral singing, Irish dancing, fiddling by the well-known Bob McMasters, and a melodious "milling frolic", an old Scottish custom.

In her speech she praised the university for preserving the unique culture of Cape Breton and ensuring that its precious customs and traditions would never be obliterated.

On Thursday night President and Dr McAleese were guests at a private dinner given by the Premier of Nova Scotia, Mr Russell MacLellan, and Senator Alasdair Graham.