New Irish Envoy Presents Credentials
By Yusuf Alghali

"Ireland recognises the important positive role model which Sierra Leone is both for West Africa and indeed for the whole of Africa in the area of conflict resolution," the new ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to Sierra Leone, His Excellency Liam Caniffe said Friday 26th March 2004, as he presented his letters of credence to President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah at the Hill Station Lodge.

The envoy said Sierra Leone's role modelling "is important within the context of the African Union, the New Partnership for African Development and particularly in relation to ECOWAS" and pledged that during Ireland's current Presidency of the European Union, the enhancement of African/EU relationship would continue to be one of her "key priorities".

He said the Irish government was "very much aware" of President Kabbah's "strong commitment to strengthening the democratic process in Sierra Leone and welcomes the great progress which has been seen in Sierra Leone since the ending of the conflict". He indicated Ireland's further acknowledgement of the contribution which the President had made to "the very successful peace process and towards the future positive development of Sierra Leone". "For the first time in over a decade, the country is now in a state of positive transition," the ambassador added and recalled with much satisfaction the successful completion of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme in December 2003.

As the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) begins to hand over security responsibilities to government forces in areas where there are relatively low security threats, Mr. Caniffe said his country was looking forward to a continuation of this hand-over process, hoping however that it would not impose any unbearable burden on Sierra Leone.

Ambassador Caniffe went on to highlight the role of the Sierra Leone Special Court as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in accountability and reconciliation, pointing to Ireland's US$250,000 supports towards the 2004 activities of the former.

By way of helping Sierra Leone consolidate democracy and advance socio/economic development, Caniffe said the Irish Government would undertake to support these efforts and would work with the European Union to pursue an approach, which would encourage the peace process and encompass the humanitarian, political, economic, trade and development fields. He spoke of the Irish Development Cooperation mission sent by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern to Sierra Leone at the end of 2003 to assess further development needs as well as the much recent visit of the Irish Minister for Development, Mr. Tom Kitt, who announced the setting up of a regional Irish Development Cooperation office in Sierra Leone.

On West African regional integration, the ambassador observed that the process might need more time, but emphasised that the EU would like to work with Sierra Leone and the region as a whole to complete the journey which ECOWAS has mapped out.

For his part, President Kabbah acknowledged Ireland's support to Sierra Leone "during its hour of need", as well as her role in the restoration of Constitutional Order to the country. He observed that his government, with considerable support from the international community, had been able to make progress in consolidating the peace and in establishing a reliable security framework through the training, re-equipping and restructuring of the Military, Police and Prison Forces.

Since the declaration of the end of the war in January 2002, the Head of State said, government had been working to strengthen the necessary structures to enhance stability, economic growth, good governance, security and human rights. "My Government will continue to work towards progress in these areas in order to attract not only investor interests, but also to create the necessary conditions for our compatriots currently residing oversees who would see the need to come back home and join us in the rebuilding process," President Kabbah said.

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He also referred to his promise to pursue relentlessly the declared national goal of attaining food security by the end of his current tenure thus pointing out that "the agricultural sector is a vital component" of Sierra Leone's economic development strategy. Continuing, he said his government had, among other things, therefore undertaken a strategic review of the food capacity of individuals to successfully undertake income generating activities vis-à-vis small-scale farming. He said the Irish Government's experience in this area as well as in the area of industrial advancement, technological expertise, manpower and energy would be of immense help to Sierra Leone.

The President indicated that his government was aware of the value of trade as a vehicle for economic growth and social advancement. "In this regard, a draft Bill for a new Investment Code has been completed and tabled before Parliament, which will soon be promulgated," he said, expressing confidence that this would encourage Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs and foreign investors to take advantage of the many attractive investment opportunities offered in the country. He maintained that foreign investment would also offer opportunities for the transfer of much needed managerial and technical skills and technological know-how to Sierra Leoneans. "I therefore look forward to strengthening bilateral cooperation between our private sectors in this regard," he said.

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