The College Historical Society (The Hist) awarded President of Finland Alexander Stubb with the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse on Thursday, November 27th.
Stubb, who has served as President of Finland since March 2024, addressed the society in a pre-recorded video. The event started at 5:00 p.m. in the Graduates Memorial Building to a crowd of about twenty people.
Stubb previously served as Prime Minister of Finland from June 2014 to May 2015. He also previously served as the Vice President of the European Investment Bank. President Stubb is a figure largely seen to be in favour of European Integration. Stubb was a proponent of Finland joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which it joined in April 2023.
Also speaking at the event was Professor Brigid Laffan, Ambassador Daithí Ó Ceallaigh, and Saara Heinola.
Professor Brigid Laffan currently serves as the Chancellor of the University of Limerick. Laffan previously served as the Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. Laffan’s research is largely focused on the European Union.
Ambassador Daithí Ó Ceallaigh previously served as Ireland’s first ambassador to Finland from 1993 to 1997. At various times, he also served as the Irish Ambassador to Estonia, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Saara Heinola currently serves as the Deputy Head of Mission at the Finnish embassy in Dublin.
Auditor of the Hist Hazel Mulkeen opened the event, introducing the speakers and explaining that Stubb couldn’t attend in person, and as such, he prepared a video to present to the society. Following Mulkeen’s introduction, Saara Heinola introduced the President, speaking about Irish-Finnish relations, and that “over the years we have stood together” Speaking about the Hist, Heinola said “I would like to congratulate the long dedication and commitment to promoting public discourse here”
In his speech, Stubb said that “it’s an honour for me to receive this award. I wish I was there in person, I would’ve liked to visit the university and visit the Book of Kells”. Stubb continued his speech by saying that “Finland and Ireland are rather similar” and that “we share and defend the same values”. Stubb went on to say that “The bigger players have the power” but (regarding Ireland and Finland) “what we can do is have influence” and “we do that by cooperating with others”. Stubb’s speech lasted approximately five minutes.
Following Stubb’s speech, Daithí Ó Ceallaigh spoke, opening his speech with “I like Finland”. Ó Ceallaigh spoke about his personal connection to Finland, saying that “I was appointed resident ambassador of Finland in 1993”, and that “My daughter went to school there in Helsinki, and she married a Finn”. He went on to say, that for him, “there’s a personal connection with Finland”
Ó Ceallaigh then went on to speak about how Ireland and Finland are quite similar in some ways, saying that “we’re both very small”. He also said that for Ireland and Finland, “we both became independent about the same time” and that “both of them had to deal with large neighbors”. He then went on to speak about how we diverge, saying that we currently don’t face the same threat from the United Kingdom (UK) “in the way that the Finns have faced a threat from the Russians”. Continuing on, he spoke about the European Union (EU), saying that “the Finns have made a great contribution internationally” and that “the Finns have sent some of their best people to the EU, just like we did.”
Brigid Laffan spoke after Ó Ceallaigh, speaking about her personal connection with President Stubb, and that he was a student of Laffan’s at the College of Europe in 1994. Following that, they co-taught a course together and they were colleagues at the European University Institute. She said that “our lives have intersected at many many times over the years”
Laffan said that Stubb “has helped Europe deal with Trump”, explaining that Stubb went to an American university on a golf scholarship, and has played golf with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Laffan continued on by speaking about the EU, and said that for both Ireland and Finland, “membership of the EU is the fundamental geopolitical anchor that they have,” and that “That geopolitical anchor has now got to be fought for, not just by small states in the EU, but by all states in the EU” Speaking about Finland, she said “it now has a second institutional anchor”, membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
She continued by saying that we have seen “A relative decline of the West” and, speaking about the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, we have seen “the return of inter-state war to Europe”. She continued on by saying “weaponised interdependence has exposed vulnerabilities”, and that “The EU was established to deepen interdependence but is now exposed to the vulnerabilities that global interdependence has brought”.
She went on to emphasize the importance of Ukrainian security, saying that “Ukraine has got to be sufficiently secured”. Speaking again of the Trump administration, she said that “What’s really worrying me is that this American administration, it appears to me, is taking its lead from Moscow on the security of Europe”
Following speeches by the panelists, there was a Q&A session moderated by Auditor of the Hist Hazel Mulkeen.
Mulkeen asked a question to the panelists about the extent to which they’re worried about Euroscepticism. Ó Ceallaigh explained that if we’re not at the negotiating table, we have less influence. He also said that for both Ireland and Finland, “they have best defended their own interests by getting involved internationally”.
Laffan said, regarding Brexit, that “it’s already cost them economically” Heinola said “It is a bit of an odd situation”…”that the UK has found itself trying to detach from its closest partners”
The event ended at approximately 6:15pm.
