REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING RECEPTION IN ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING RECEPTION IN ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN WEDNESDAY, 8TH DECEMBER 2010
Céad míle fáilte romhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin - a hundred thousand welcomes to Áras an Uachtaráin. Martin and I are delighted to see you all here today at what is, for our family, the start of our last Christmas in the Áras.
As you can see from the beautiful crib in the hall, the Christmas tree, the gorgeous decorations and the lovely food and drink that has been prepared for you, there have been a lot of very industrious elves beavering away over the last few weeks to make this a very magical place for all our special visitors today. The Aras team is so good that Santa was trying to get them to move to the North Pole to help him but after a week of North Pole weather in Dublin they all decided to stay. I am sure you were all very sad when your schools closed because of the snow!!! You were probably even sadder when all the mammies and daddies went down to the school with spades and shovels to clear the paths so that you could get back to school again!
A big thank you to all the people who braved ice and snow to get here today and a big thank you to all the people all over the country who helped their neighbours, who by sheer hard work, kept their footpaths clear and safe and who showed us just what the spirit of Christmas is all about.
As Washington Irving put it, “Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart”. It’s a time when families and friends gather, when we look out for anyone who is lonely or left out and try to take care of them. Christmas is the most special time for children- all of them looking forward to Christmas Eve and the excitement of waiting for Santa and Rudolf to arrive by their special magic sleigh. I really want to thank Santa’s helper here at the Áras and ask him to bring our thanks and good wishes back to Santa and Mrs Claus and all the elves for they have worked especially hard this year to make sure that this will be a very happy Christmas. And I know they trust each one of you to make this the best Christmas ever by being extra specially good and helpful and nice to everyone especially people who are sad, or sick, or worried or poor. A smile and a welcome can really help them a lot more than we will ever know.
A very big thank you to the Aras team for all the preparations they have made for all of you to have a great time. Thank you to our MC Evelyn Grant, our wonderful music tutor Rachel Healy and The Garda band quintet for entertaining us. Thank you also to the Civil Defence for taking care of us.
It has been said that “Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” So let’s try that here this evening as we open our hearts to one another in the spirit of Christmas and sing the best Jingle Bells ever heard in Áras an Uachtaráin with the help of a massive variety of home-made instruments and then when we go outside we are going to do the loudest count-down ever to the switching-on of the Christmas lights.
Thank you all for coming and for making the beginning of my last Christmas in Áras an Uachtaráin so special. Nollaig faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise daoibh go léir. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.