HMQ Addresses the National Assembly

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It is a great pleasure for me to be here where the white shells litter the estuary on this memorable day in the green field above the sea marsh at the National Assembly. I am delighted that this valley of the little mill and the big smithy has so significantly drawn on the swift flowing streams, cattle moors, marshy lands, and places filled with boundary crosses to mark the opening of a brand new threshing floor. This fine building at the top of the green road by the well and the church and the well regulated inn just beyond the causeway is a place for the whole of Wales to celebrate.

It is fitting therefore, Presiding Officer, that you, man of the roadside, the lakeside, the valley of coal, the hills of iron and the bridge of the blessed ford, together with other Members of this assembly, to which all thin roads lead, have today been joined by the licksome big Troddi, the Secretary of State, as well as men from local authorities dressed in grand robes, great chains, allotment Oxfam woollen wear, and with their arms all open ready and waiting.

All elected to public office bear a heavy responsibility, as you are well aware, you servants of this mountained land, with its hummocks and hills shaped like sugar. Those who elect you give democratic voice to their aspirations, expectations, and of course their noisy televisions. It is to the men and women of Wales that you, the members of this church of Anno, of Dewi, of Derfael, of Egwad, of Ned, of Egryn, of Elin, of Cynin, of Cynllo, of Cynog, of Dafydd, of dope, of distrust, of chip-shouldered underdog, of didgeridoo, Poetry Wales, Shirley Bassey, Richey Edwards, and men who can no longer kick, ultimately answer.

It is now up to you, cairns of Llywelyn, castles on the rock, mottled alder marshes in the thickets, and places named after Trevor, by giving meaning to the ideals and aspirations of those you serve, by expressing the spirit of your rich, lichen-covered culture, by shaping the very future of this rainy place and mill land characterised by ferns with a closed pub on every corner, to make this National Assembly a true symbol of Wales.

Presiding Officer, Ladies and Gentlemen, prominent mounds and pollarded stumps, I am pleased to declare this pasturage open and I wish you success in your future deliberations.

 

Peter Finch

 

 


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