Canada is an important but underestimated partner in the span of Ireland's international relations. The visit of its prime minister, Mr Jean Chretien, over the last few days has once more put the spotlight on this, highlighting some little known facts - in particular that Canada is the second largest source of international investment in the Republic as well as a rapidly developing trading partner. It has played a significant role in the Northern Ireland peace process. Many of its citizens have an Irish background. And Canada shares foreign policy and political values with Ireland which are likely to be increasingly relevant in a more integrated world.
Such visits play a useful role in building up this relationship. Mr Chretien brought with him a powerful group of business people, many of them with contacts and investments here, others anxious to develop them. There is much less Irish investment in Canada, although trade flows are in Ireland's favour. The high technology sectors in both countries have much to offer each other and, as the Canadian Minister for International Trade, Mr Sergio Marchi, pointed out in Dublin, Canada opens up the whole of the North American market to Irish traders and investors, just as Ireland opens up the whole of the European Union's to Canada. The announcement that a Canadian company is to land the first transatlantic telecommunications fibre cable in Dublin, enabling high speed links between Canada, the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, symbolises these new realities.
Canada's role in the Northern Ireland peace process is also significant. Precisely because the Irish people there have both Protestant and Catholic backgrounds there is a greater insight available and a credibility for both unionist and nationalist traditions. Three Canadian figures play key roles in Northern Ireland: General John de Chastelain, in charge of the international arms decommissioning body is the most well-known; but there are also two of his countrymen with responsibilities in the Bloody Sunday investigation and in the commission on policing. Canada's highly developed efforts to reconcile multicultural and constitutional differences within its own political system give it a special insight into the complexities of the Irish peace process.
Both Canada and Ireland have had to learn to live with much bigger neighbours which could overwhelm their identities if sufficient care is not taken. In coming to terms with the geographical and cultural realities both states have developed similar approaches to international affairs. These include a determined stress on foreign policy multi-lateralism, especially through the United Nations and, recently, a shared emphasis on free trade within their respective regions which they would like to extend to the transatlantic setting. There is much mutual gain to be garnered from pooling such common experience even more.