Madam, - Today, for many central European countries, the hope that sustained the struggle to return to freedom within Europe, a hope that shone unbroken from the end of the second World War, through the dark shadow of the yoke of Yalta and the lost years of Communist rule and oppression, finds its reward.
Through the risks and sacrifices of the Poznan bread riots, the Prague summer, the Budapest uprising, the Gdansk shipyard strikes, the massed bold bravery of Polish Solidarity, the Velvet Revolution and countless acts of mute opposition, the burning flame that sought freedom in the heart of Europe finds it today.
This is a day of welcomes and returns. Let us raise high the flags of our nations with pride over Dublin and the Continent, let us call out our celebration of this new beginning in a clear and generous voice. Let us call out to all our European brothers and sisters, with the confidence of the ages, in the tongue of our ancestors: Céad Míle Fáilte, a hundred thousand welcomes. From today, we journey forward together, passing onwards from a milestone in modern Europe's peaceful evolution. - Yours, etc.,
DECLAN RYAN,
Warsaw,
Poland.