Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has paid tribute to General John de Chastelain, who he said “helped forge” Northern Ireland’s peace process.
Carney was speaking at the inaugural De Chastelain Public Lecture at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) as part of his two-day visit to Ireland.
The lecture is named after the Canadian general, who was head of the international body charged with decommissioning paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland.
He was present in the university’s examination Hall as Carney said it was an “honour” to be speaking under the banner of his name.
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The prime minister said: “After a lifetime of service, General John de Chastelain’s seminal work helped forge and implement the Good Friday Agreement.
“Peace is never guaranteed. It cannot simply be signed into reality.
“It is brokered, and built, and embodied by brave and compassionate individuals like General de Chastelain.”
Carney said De Chastelain “imagined better possibilities that others did not see.
“He was ambitious. He understood the power of connection, obligation, and trust.
“For us, gathered here to honour his legacy, this is our charge: We must imagine better possibilities, we must recognise the importance of our shared world view and weave webs of connection, obligation, and trust – across borders and generations.”
Referencing the words of Trinity alumnus Edmund Burke, Carney added: “If we can do this, if we build together and with his ambition, we can arrive at a future worthy of ‘those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born’.”
In January, a scholarship programme in the retired general’s name was launched to support “a new generation of scholars, researchers and practitioners committed to peace, reconciliation and deepening connections between Ireland and Canada”.
At the launch of the programme, de Chastelain described his work in Northern Ireland as “the most important and fulfilling of my life”.- PA
