ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF HER VISIT TO LETTERKENNY GAELS GAA CLUB
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF HER VISIT TO LETTERKENNY GAELS GAA CLUB ON SUNDAY 19 APRIL, 1998
As a great supporter of GAA myself – and as a member of a family of firm GAA followers – it is a particular pleasure for me to be with you this afternoon to meet with the team captains and club officials – and to get a glimpse of some of the skill of your players on the pitches. Since my arrival in County Donegal yesterday, I have been overwhelmed by the warmth and enthusiasm of the reception I have received everywhere I’ve gone and I would like to thank you for the great welcome I have received this afternoon.
I know that Letterkenny Gaels is a relatively new club – being just over two years in existence. But I know too that it enjoys tremendous support in Letterkenny – as is evidenced by the phenomenal growth - with 166 young members and 45 adult players. Already your club is making its mark – with the Under 12 team winning the Under 12 Divisional County Championship in 1997 and your Under 14 team acquitting themselves very well at National level in the Féile Peil na nÓg competition. I know too that you have been to Donegal’s traditional ‘foreign’ destination – Scotland – where so many of Donegal’s sons and daughters have found homes and where the influence of Donegal goes back over a millennium to the early Celtic and Christian travellers like Colmcille.
The great contribution of the GAA to the revival and preservation of our Celtic culture owes its success to the many people at local club level who have worked hard to build up their own clubs and facilities – and to involve the young people of their areas in the healthiest pastime of all - sport. County Donegal is the cradle of our Celtic heritage – where the great clans like the O’Donnells made such an enormous impact on life in Ireland and abroad – and where the Irish language and culture survived the ravages of conflict and conquest over the troubled centuries of this millennium.
The great number of local GAA clubs throughout Ireland is a tribute to the commitment and dedication of people such as yourselves – a tribute to your determination to give your children something of which they can be proud – to give them the opportunity to compete and excel in one of our great national sports. I want to give recognition to the many who have contributed to the successful establishment of Letterkenny Gaels – to the club officials who have set themselves a great task in building up a club for all the members – to the players who are prepared to get out and play for their club – and to the parents and supporters who ensure that it is a living and thriving club – and who will help it to develop in the years ahead.
Ireland today is a place where there is youth in abundance – where there is enthusiasm and drive – where there is a new self-confidence in what we are doing and where we are going. There is a great interest in Ireland and our culture – a great movement to cherish what is ours – and to preserve our identity in a world where national boundaries cease to act as barriers to communication and integration. Letterkenny Gaels is playing a full part in that movement.
Finally, I want to thank you all again for the warm welcome I have received and to take this opportunity wish the club well in the seasons and years ahead.
ENDS