REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO WELCOME BACK THE IRISH OLYMPIC TEAM, ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE TO WELCOME BACK THE IRISH OLYMPIC TEAM, ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN, WEDNESDAY, 1st SEPTEMBER, 2004
Dia dhíbh a cháirde agus fáilte abhaile. Is sona liom bheith i bhúr measc ar an ócáid fíor-thábhachtach seo. Fearaim fíor-chaoin fáilte roimh na pearsana spóirt atá i láthair anseo, agus rompu siúd uile atá bainteach le cúrsaí spóirt.
A heartfelt welcome home to you all and a warm welcome to Áras an Uachtaráin.
I am very happy to have this opportunity to welcome our heroes and heroines back home from their Olympian exploits in Greece. Comhghairdeachas libh go léir. The Athens Olympics 2004 were a great sporting spectacle and I congratulate you our finest sports men and women for what you have achieved – for the determination and dedication and bravery you displayed throughout the long years of preparation and qualification and during those tense, testing days in Athens.
Long before you ever reached Greece you had earned respect and admiration the hard way as you pursued at great personal cost and commitment what IOC chief Jacques Rogge, in his closing ceremony speech, described as an "unforgettable dream". He was right. You were part of that dream. You have its memories to last a lifetime. You are among the tiny privileged few who have such precious memories and there were no easy tickets to Athens for any of you. It takes superhuman courage to take on the world’s best athletes, to put yourself into that competition in which there are very, very few winners who will return with gold, silver or bronze. You know from long experience what it is to give everything you have physically, mentally and emotionally and still find the grace to accept that on the day someone else did better. Is there any place in the world where the margins between smiles and tears are as tight as they were in Athens? Thank you for taking on that struggle, for taking it on in the name of Ireland, for your willingness to try and for doing your very best. In the heat of Athens you did us proud.
We take a very special pride in our gold medallist, Cian O’Connor, who not only beat the odds but contradicted the armchair pundits with great style and perfect timing. We had all already practised breathing while our hearts were stopped during the Aga Khan but Cian and Waterford Crystal brought us to new levels of silent hysteria which none of us will ever forget. What a glorious moment which everybody in Ireland was honoured and proud to share, just as we shared too the heartrending disappointment of our great athlete and competitor Sonia O’Sullivan - whose spirit of dedicated preparation and relentless trying showed the depths of personal courage all Olympians need.
For my own part, as someone not noted for her sporting prowess, I take some solace as I look around me at the epitomes of sporting excellence in the words of some wit who announced after the games that “if exercise is so good for us why do so many athletes retire at thirty-five!” My sporting achievements so far lie in (1) the award for the most hospitalised skier in living memory and (2) man of the match years ago for a failed assault on a referee whose decision I had cause to question!
I applaud each of you, our Olympians, who trained so hard and for so long to reach the Games. You went to Athens in Ireland’s name and there you represented us in ways that, make no mistake about it, made us proud. Even those who went as subs and never made it onto the field or river - you played your part in a unique event that many aspire to and few get to. I hope that throughout your lives you too will take pride in being among that honoured elite band of Irish Olympians.
I congratulate all those who helped make our Olympic team a reality - those who in the background worked discreetly and inconspicuously but whose efforts were critical to making the team happen. Families, partners, coaches, administrators, officials, sponsors, supporters all contribute to the athlete’s preparation for the Games, being with them, supporting, encouraging all the way and richly deserving thanks for that.
We now look forward to Beijing and new challenges, perhaps some new challengers inspired by you, to join the ‘veterans’ in this room and to carry our country’s torch into the next Olympiad. You are their heroes and heroines and you are ours.
Comhghairdeachas libh go léir arís. Go raibh maith agaibh.