REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT AN IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION FOR GUERNSEY GAELS GAA
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT AN IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION ON THE OCCASION OF THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF GUERNSEY GAELS GAA
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Dia dhíbh, a cháirde go léir. Tá mé iontach sásta bheith anseo libh inniu.
It is a great honour to be the first President of Ireland to visit Guernsey. It is also a great personal pleasure for Martin and for me to have this opportunity to meet the Guernsey Irish Community people who are such fine ambassadors for Ireland here. A special big happy tenth birthday to the Guernsey Gaels whose invitation to mark their anniversary sparked this visit.
The Guernsey Gaels came into being in much the same way as the GAA itself was formed back in the nineteenth century - by a few dedicated people coming together to promote Irish sport and to share in its benefits. Some of those founding fathers of the Guernsey Gaels are here with us today and they deserve our thanks and congratulations for the dedication and effort which went into its creation and keeps on going into its running and development.
I’m delighted to see the strong links between the Guernsey Gaels and the Antrim GAA Board so well represented here today. Martin was once captain of the Antrim Minor football team, long ago, and he and I have both waited patiently for the appearance of the yellow and white jerseys in Croke Park, now that we have great seats – but so far no luck. Maybe the Guernsey connection and their experience in the Billy Reid Cup can inject some new impetus! I’m particularly thrilled by the competitive spirit of the Guernsey Gaels Ladies who have flown the flag far and wide through the Cumann Lúthchleas Gael na hEorpa.
Those who hand on the culture of the gael to the young are doing a great job and I would especially like to commend those of you who are involved with the Gaelic Football Youth Programme, in particular John Payne, Denis O’Malley, Ray Tully and Larry Hughes. By passing your love of the games to the next generation you are not only upholding a proud Irish tradition and enriching the sporting life of Guernsey but you are investing in a legacy of relationships within Guernsey and between Guernsey and Ireland and indeed with the global Irish family that will keep on giving back and giving back for years to come.
Ireland’s connection with Guernsey is deepened through the outward expression of our culture through music, dance and song and of course, our Gaelic games. I have just travelled here from a commemoration of the Flight of the Earls who, 400 years ago in very different circumstances, travelled from Donegal to continental Europe passing close by these islands. They were in dread of the cold welcome that might await them here if they chanced to be washed up on Guernsey’s shores.
I come in different circumstances from a different Ireland and to a place of friends. The links between us are many - the human links of migrants, business links, tourism links and now strong political links through the British-Irish Council established under the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Through the work of the Council we are working together with a radical new focus and energy, more than friends, now partners in the shared enterprise of making our islands bywords for peace, prosperity and good neighbourliness.
To the lovely people of Guernsey I say thank you for such a wonderful welcome to me and to the many Irish who have made their homes here or come to visit. The Guernsey Irish make us very proud and both Guernsey and Ireland benefit hugely from their commitment to us both. Once again, thank you all for your very warm welcome today and happy anniversary to the Guernsey Gaels!
Go n-éirí go geal libh ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh.