But our grief is deeper.  It goes beyond what would be a natural human reaction to a tragedy.  Our grief is greater by the fact that the relationship between Ireland and Poland has taken on truly new dimensions in recent years.  Ireland and Poland belong to a European family and our grief has taken on a family dimension. This tragedy has revealed to us just how much relationships within the people of Europe have changed.  We have moved the cumbersome mechanisms of inter-governmental cooperation, however necessary they may be, to one which is becoming a true relationship of friendship between peoples.  The sincerity of our grief reminds just how much democratic progress, open trade and cultural interchange have brought not just nations and economies together but have really borne fruit in relationships between our peoples.

We often affirm that the European ideal has brought peace to Europe.  But peace is more than the absence of war.  The real basis of peace in Europe is that new relationship which is emerging among our peoples.

Some will refer to Poland as one of the new member States of the European Union.  That may be true if we choose only to examine of the dates of the accession treaties.  But those treaties really mark a moment in which Poland fully regained the place that it legitimately plays as a bridge builder in Europe.  Emerging from various periods of European history encircled by the wars and rivalries of others, Poland has always managed to maintain its traditions and culture intact. 

The journey of President Kaczynski to Katyn was to be an indication of the ability of the Polish people to draw out of the historical wounds of its past the ability slowly to build up new relationships with its neighbours.  The celebrations at Katyn were to consolidate a new embrace of friendship between Poland and Russia and for both sides to give Europe another sign of a common hope for a peaceful future.   Our grief is great because the disaster struck a nation which is part of our new European family.