REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A FAMILY CHRISTMAS RECEPTION ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A FAMILY CHRISTMAS RECEPTION ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN WEDNESDAY, 15TH DECEMBER 2010
Dia dhíbh a chairde tráthnóna. You’re all very, very welcome here today to join Martin and me for this lovely celebration. I’m sure you’ll agree that the house is looking wonderful, the music is superb and the food is delicious. I’d like to thank our Master of Ceremonies Ronan Collins, the pupils from Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcain who gave that beautiful performance of the story of Christmas, Stagecraft for providing such talented and inventive face painters, our fantastic magician Jack Wise and all of Santa’s little helpers who have worked so hard to make sure this will be a lovely afternoon for you all. And isn’t it just as well Santa himself travels by sleigh with all that snow and black ice?
This is a family day at the Áras and Christmas is a very special time for families, in fact it is a celebration of the baby Jesus being born many years ago in a stable in Bethlehem and becoming a family with his parents, Mary and Joseph. It is also a time of year when we celebrate being part of our own families, and realise how lucky we are to be surrounded by so many people who care about us. One of the most joyful images here in Ireland at Christmas time is the sight of all those wonderful reunions at the airport as so many of our people travel from far and wide to make it back home to their families for Christmas day.
Christmas is also, of course, a time for sharing and for thinking about people who aren’t as lucky as us. Some people are very lonely on Christmas day and would love someone to check if they are alright and wish them a happy Christmas. It is not very difficult to make someone’s Christmas day a little bit happier or a little bit easier. Kindness costs nothing thankfully.
2010 has not been a great year for everyone in Ireland, but one of the things that gave so many of us a boost recently was the wonderful sense of community spirit and great kindness that we all saw during the snowy weather. Neighbours we had never or rarely spoken to before helped us to push our cars out of the drive so we could get to school and work, people we hardly knew offered to help us shovel snow off our paths so we wouldn’t slip and fall, others offered to shop for elderly neighbours or to give them lifts so they wouldn’t miss important appointments or be unable to visit people they cared about in hospital. It was a lovely note to end a difficult year on and reminds us all that, no matter how difficult things are, if everyone pulls together and helps each other we will make it through to better days.
This will be my last Christmas in this beautiful house and I want it to be full of joy and music. So in a few minutes I want you all to sing the best Jingle Bells ever heard in Áras an Uachtaráin with the help of a massive variety of home-made instruments that you have brought with you.
Thank you very much for coming here today to visit us and for helping to make my last Christmas in Áras an Uachtaráin so special. I hope you all have a lovely afternoon and a very, very happy Christmas. I will end with a little bit of advice for the adults from the late American writer Andy Rooney, who once said “One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly."
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir. Nollaig faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise daoibh go léir.