REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION AT ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN FOR SPORTS PERSONS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION AT ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN FOR SPORTS PERSONS FROM THROUGHOUT IRELAND
Dia dhíobh a cháirde. Is cúis mhór áthais dom fáilte a chur romhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin inniu. Fearaim fíor-chaoin fáilte roimh na pearsana spóirt atá i láthair anseo, agus rompu siúd uile atá bainteach le cúrsaí spóirt.
Martin and I are delighted to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon. We have sporting heroes here today from all over the country, so a warm ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’ and a heartfelt thanks to each of you for your contribution to sport in Ireland.
In this room are gathered men and women representing the full spectrum of sport - sport that plays such a huge part in Irish life, our culture and in our collective imagination. We love it; some would say we live for it. It is hugely important to us.
With the Olympic Games almost upon us we are reminded that, for t he ancient Greeks, physical culture was not a separate activity from the rest of life. It was a part of culture as a whole, and was valued as much for the way it developed the mind as for the way it developed the body. It was an inseparable part of their civilisation. They were not right about everything, but they were certainly right about sport. The modern Olympic Games are a product of that great civilisation and a continuing lesson for us all.
A great thing about sport, and athletic competition, is that it brings people together even while it fosters competition between them. Sporting occasions stir people with the shared feeling of belonging to a shared enterprise and a shared understanding of what it is to struggle against one’s limitations and overcome them; sometimes by individual effort, sometimes in teams determined to create a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Up to recently, sport’s educational functions have sometimes been underrated. The obesity epidemic alone argues that sport must be encouraged. The people of the earliest times recognised that sport develops character as well as health. For both competitors and spectators it is inspiration to excellence in their own lives. Athletes learn the values conveyed by sport. They develop their physical capabilities and strengthen their motivation to personal excellence, as well as the broader human skills required for teamwork, solidarity, tolerance and fair play. They increase their knowledge of themselves in addition to learning the skills of their chosen activity.
We know that in sport there is never real certainty about the outcome, there are no sure-fire winners, and this is a part of the thrill and excitement for the spectator. It is also part of the lonely journey each sportsman or woman must embark upon, part of the wall they have to face and surmount. But the buzz of victory is not a taunt to those who do not win. Not winning does not make anybody a loser. For us, there is only the trying. Sport takes our failures and teaches us to go on, only next time try to fail better. And better again the next time, and always to the best of our abilities.
And yet, for all the great good it does, it is also a valuable end in itself. The only thing quite like watching someone set a new record, or win a competition, is doing it yourself. To play in an All-Ireland Final, to represent Ireland at games of international standard, is a spiritual experience as magnificent as any of the great works of art.
But you don’t need to be told of the enchantment which involvement in sport works in our lives. From the simple but profoundly important things like the friendships, the loyalty to team and to club, county, country, the commitment, the discipline, the exhilaration of being the best, the humbling acceptance of not being number one, the well-being that comes from participating, from feeling alive, from feeling included.
It does not come easy. It takes hard work. I applaud your endeavours in all their manifestations, the training day in day out, year in year out, the time spent away from home and family, the relentless and determined effort to be the very best, the hardships and injuries suffered, the sacrifices in terms of careers or income or time for other things.
Today is my chance to salute your contribution, your hard work and your commitment to sport. Thank you for the scrap book of memories you have given to the rest of us, the shared memories of the whole community. This is a happy occasion for everyone. However, on occasions such as this we should also remember all those other sporting heroes who are no longer with us. Dreadfully tragic has been our loss earlier in this year of Cormac McAnallan and John McCall. They had already achieved so much in their young lives and would have undoubtedly achieved a lot more in their sporting careers. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anaim.
I hope that you will enjoy the afternoon and that you will leave the Áras with a new memory or two, some old friendships renewed, some new ones just beginning.
On occasions such as this I like to invite people to stroll through the gardens – weather permitting, that is!
Please take the opportunity to stroll through the formal rooms in the House and the very fine visitor centre downstairs which tells the story of the Áras – a house which is the veritable story in stone of the people of Ireland and of our relationship with our nearest neighbour, Britain. It embodies all the traditions and cultures which this island shares.
For your entertainment this afternoon we had the very talented Mary Kelly playing the harp in the entrance hall as you arrived.
I would like to thank our Masters of Ceremony for the afternoon, Mr Jimmy Magee, Mr Brian Carthy and Mr Micheal O’Muircheataigh; the delightful Teadaí who you have just heard; the superb Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann. I would also like to thank our friends from Civil Defence and the staff here at the Aras who have spent many long hours and days preparing for today.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.