REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A GARDEN PARTY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORK OF COMMUNITIES
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A GARDEN PARTY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORK OF COMMUNITIES INVOLVED IN TIDY TOWNS PROJECTS
Dia dhíbh a chairde.
You are all very welcome to Áras an Uachtaráin today – thank you for coming. I know that many of you have come long distances or have spent a long time travelling short distances – but however you got here, Martin and I are very glad you are here and we hope that you will enjoy the afternoon with us.
The staff on the other hand aren’t so enamoured about today’s event. No – they have been a bit despondent of late and I eventually found out why. Having nearly 600 people involved in Tidy Towns coming to visit is a bit like having 600 mothers-in-law coming for the first time – no matter what you do, you’re worried that the place won’t look the way you want it to, that it won’t be quite up to standard – the way it should be done! (Did you see the weeds, the roses had green-fly and as for the azalea – they must never see a bit of peat moss!) Anyway, the staff have been working flat out trying to match the exacting standards you regularly set for yourselves and I believe they’ve done a great job. Maybe you would reassure them, settle their nerves by giving them a big round of applause.
But today the real applause belongs to you the volunteers who have a vision for your home town or village and who make that vision happen - it is your commitment, your achievements we are celebrating today. The rest of us have much to be thankful for – for in almost every village and town on this island there are people who care very deeply, who have a strong sense of civic responsibility, people who want to showcase their village, their town at its absolute best for the enjoyment of everyone – local and visitor.
This is the very essence of Tidy Towns. This is why every day of every month there are thousands of people the length and breadth of this country working hard to make their towns and villages the best they can be. They don’t look for thanks or personal reward but they richly deserve our thanks and praise. They are the life-blood of the Tidy Towns Competition and it is they who have sustained and nourished it from its earliest days more than four decades ago with its modest aspirations to become the national movement it is today. Every year the standards get higher, the competition keener and we all benefit. Because of what you do, your village, town and our country are better places to live, more beautiful places to visit. Because of the way that you do it, you set a fine example for the next generation of what it means to have pride in and respect for your community. The more we can harness that sense of pride in community, in environment, the greater the legacy we leave to our children and grand children. Today is my way of saying thank you for all that you do, year in, year out to make this island a better place to live on, a better place for our children to grow up in.
I hope that you will enjoy the entertainment we have in store for you – I would like to thank the wonderfully talented Kylemore College Ensemble and the superb New Life Singers. I would also like to thank our MC Eugene Downes, Civil Defence staff John Gold and Josephine McGlinchey and last but by no means least the staff here at the Áras who work very hard (especially when the mother-in-law or her ilk are visiting) to make days like today pleasant for everyone. We have arranged for tours of the House in a little while which I hope you will find interesting. Most of all, I hope you will enjoy the afternoon and leave with some happy memories of your visit.
Go raibh maith agaibh.