Remarks for President McAleese - Reception for Irish Rugby Team
Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin, Tuesday, 23rd August, 2011
President Hussey, Coach Kidney, Captain O’Driscoll and ladies and gentlemen:
Tá áthas orm fáilte chroíúil a fhearadh roimh fhoireann rugbaí na hÉireann ar fad idir
imreoirí, bhainistíocht agus lucht traenála anseo in Áras an Uachtaráin inniu.
I am delighted to welcome the members of the Irish rugby team – players, management and
coaching staff – to Áras an Uachtaráin today.
On the threshold of winning a Triple Crown in 1985, Ciarán Fitzgerald famously rallied an
Irish team by asking “Where is your pride?” – or words to that effect; I might have omitted an
adjective.
His question was in many ways a rhetorical one because Irish rugby teams over the years
have always displayed immense pride in the jersey and passion for their sport. In more recent
years, that constant pride and passion has been accompanied by an unprecedented level of
emerging talent, technical excellence and professional coaching and management so that Irish
rugby is experiencing a golden age of achievement.
The IRFU deserve huge credit for what it has achieved over the last two decades – putting in
place the professional structures that have led not only to the achievements of the national
team in the Six Nations but also the enormous success of the four provincial teams. That
success should not be judged solely in terms of the silverware achieved – a Grand Slam, four
triple crowns within the last decade, five Heineken Cups, six Magner League titles – but also
in embedding huge interest and enthusiasm for rugby across every part of this island.
From the Aviva Stadium and the RDS in Dublin to the Showground in Galway, from
Thomond Park to Ravenhill, that excitement, enthusiasm and sense of pride in Irish rugby is
there for all to see and feel and breathe. As a native of Belfast, I am very proud that Ulster
was the first province to win the Heineken Cup. As President, I was delighted to see Munster
and then Leinster fulfil their destinies to become champions of Europe. With strong roots to
County Roscommon, I look forward to the day when Connacht will complete the circle of
victory for the Irish provinces.
When I came into office in 1997, I said the theme of my Presidency would be bridge-building
– between people, between communities, between both parts of this island. Over the last 14
years, the IRFU and Irish rugby has done a huge amount of bridge-building of its own –
building up the sport at grass roots level, building a provincial system with which people
could feel a real sense of allegiance and community and building an Irish team that all
traditions on this island are proud to call their own.
This time of year is normally a little sobering – the summer (if we ever saw it) is on the wane,
the holidays are over and we are all heading back to work or to school. But this year, we can
look forward to six exhilarating weeks of World Cup rugby in September and October –
bring it on! Our anticipation is made all the greater by the knowledge that Ireland will be
represented by a team that will do us proud; that has a pool of players of extraordinary talent
and commitment; and that has a management and coaching staff of outstanding ability and
judgement.
I know you are all looking forward to the tournament and probably impatient for the contest
to begin. While you are relishing the prospect of the challenge ahead, I am sure that under
Declan’s and Brian’s wise leadership, there will be no room for complacency in the Irish
camp nor for any undue distraction arising from the hype and excitement that usually attends
a World Cup.
Nevertheless, before you all board the plane for New Zealand, you need to know that the
people of the island of Ireland, of all political and religious hues and none, are hugely proud
of the way you have worn the green jersey over recent years, of the way you have conducted
yourselves on and off the pitch and of the dignified way you handled the elations of many
victories and the disappointments of occasional defeats. You travel to New Zealand with a
huge groundswell of good will and support at your back and with the confident hopes of the
people of Ireland under your wings.
That confidence does not stem from any sense of naive optimism or complacent expectation
but rather from the certain knowledge that there is no need to ask the question – where is your
pride? It has been proven time and time again and will be manifest for all to see in New
Zealand – the individual pride in yourselves as extraordinary sportsmen who combine innate
talent with immense hard work; the shared pride in the collective performance of a team that
far exceeds the sum of its parts; the pride in the jersey that keeps faith with all the great
players who wore it in the past and honours their achievements; and the pride in your country
which, despite current travails, is deeply loved by all of us who share this island and are
fortunate enough to call it home.
When you all depart for New Zealand you will leave behind family members who will anxiously monitor your progress from afar. I am very conscious that wives, partners and children sacrifice a great deal so that their loved one can commit himself so totally to the game. Golf widows might complain but rugby is an even more demanding mistress – whether it’s the long absences for training sessions or games, the limits it places on a couple’s social life due to Declan’s tyrannical regime or, more seriously, the real fear and actuality of injury.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who endure those sacrifices, who support their son, partner or father so that they can dedicate themselves to rugby and who provide them with a haven of respite to rest their weary bodies and sore muscles when the contest is over.
To help send you off to New Zealand in good spirits, we have – with the assistance of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann – arranged some uplifting Irish traditional music for you to enjoy. I wish to thank our musicians who are about to play for us – Aoife Ní hArgáin,
Barry Leonard, Colm Ó hArgáin and Kate Walley.
It only remains for me to extend to all the team – players, coaching staff, medical and physio
team and officials – every best wish for the World Cup Finals. I know you will acquit
yourselves with great honour and distinction; I know you will be great ambassadors for Irish
rugby; I know you will make all of us proud; and I hope that all of your collective talent,
commitment and preparation will be rewarded with the positive results they so manifestly
deserve.
Guím gach rath oraibh ar fad. Go n-éirí go geal libh sa chomórtas mór atá romhaibh amach.