REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE CORK PERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD SHERATON
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE CORK PERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD SHERATON, FOTA ISLAND
Is breá liom bheith anseo i bhúr measc ag an ócaid specialta seo, agus ba mhaith liom mo bhúiochas a chur in iúl dibh as an chuireadh agus as fáilte fíorchaoin.
Thank you very much indeed for your generous welcome and, of course, my warmest thanks to Manus O’Callaghan for providing me, once more, with another good excuse to come back to Cork and start the new year properly.
This event is about highlighting the very best of Cork’s people for it is, of course, its people who create and sustain Cork’s vitality, its community spirit, its capacity to transcend life’s ups and downs and its many achievements. On this visit to Cork, apart from this event with its particular focus on recognising excellence, I will be involved in a number of different events which touch on the arts, philanthropy, education and disability, and that is just one day in the life of Cork.
Every day, in thousands of different ways, good people do good things, make good decisions and plan good things that build up the civic strength of Cork. They invest in themselves, their families, their workplaces and their communities so that the best of human nature shines. They don’t look for recognition or honour but some of their stories are so outstanding, so inspirational that they beg to be told and celebrated in public. That is what brings us here - their stories, twelve very different narratives, twelve thoroughly admirable human beings who have a thing or two to teach all of us about the value of active citizenship.
In these giddy times of prosperity which have brought us much to celebrate but have also seen a diminution in simple courtesy and a growth of crass in-your-faceness, some lives serve to remind us of the best values, the timeless things that build us up humanly, that take the coarseness out of the texture of life and make us proud of the noble side of the human condition. It is good that such lives are showcased as they are here today, to reassure us and encourage us as much as to reward the twelve. To each of the nominees, I say a big thank you for the way you have demonstrated human nature at its most reassuring.
I also congratulate everyone who has worked so hard towards the success of this flagship occasion - the organisers, the sponsors, the judges, supporters and the hotel staff. With 2008 opening out before us - a blank slate of all sorts of possible futures - it is a privilege to begin the year in the company of the men and women who showcase not just Cork, and not just Ireland, but humanity at its very best.
I congratulate and salute you for what you have accomplished and I wish you many, many, more successes in the future.
Gura fada buan sibh agus go raibh maith agaibh.