REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ STUDENTS, ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ STUDENTS, ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN, WEDNESDAY, 21 JANUARY, 2004
Dia dhíbh a chairde agus fáilte go léir go dtí Áras an Uachtaráin inniu.
I would like to welcome you all here to Áras an Uachtaráin, a wonderful home to me and my family for the past six years, a home to all past Presidents of Ireland, to Governors General and to the British Viceroy. In its art and architecture you will find the history of the people who have shared this island over the generations. They have not always agreed of course but today under this roof you will find important parts of British history, Irish history and our shared British/Irish history. Each of us may look on that history and its stories in very different ways but through it we were shaped and the future we live today was crafted.
I am sure that with such a gathering of scholars here, you will all be able to tell me why this is a historically significant day for Ireland for two reasons and no it’s not just because you’ve come to visit the Áras – not that that’s not significant in it’s own right! Anyway, as you’re obviously all so eager to answer, I’m finding it hard to choose from the huge number of up-stretched arms and so I’ll steal the occasion for myself! Today is significant as it was on this day, the 21st of January in 1921, that Dáil Éireann met for the first time in the Mansion House in Dublin. It was also the day on which the first shots of the War of Independence were fired at Sologheadbeg.
This House at that time was known as the Vice-Regal Lodge – the residence of the British Viceroys, the Crown’s representative in Ireland. The Áras has been carefully maintained and preserved. It is, of course a place where we conduct important State business and welcome the many important statesmen and women of the world. But it is a happy and comfortable home, very conveniently situated next door to some very exotic and occasionally noisy neighbours in the zoo. Then again on days like this with so many young and enthusiastic visitors they are probably thinking the same about the noise levels here! Anyway, they haven’t come visiting on our side of the fence yet - lucky for us since the nearest neighbours are ferocious rhinocerouses and rather large cats! Like most homes in Ireland this is a place of welcome to the stranger and I hope you will feel comfortable and at home while you are here. This day here is yours - a day when this old house hears the young voices of tomorrow’s citizens. Your voices are so important and even more important are the friendships you make with each other because we all want the future to be better, happier, more friendly, more peaceful, than the past. So I hope you will take the chance to get to know someone new here today as well as getting to know the house as you wander around the rooms and the visitors’ centre downstairs.
Many of you will know already my mission as President is a simple one - to build bridges between those of us who share this island so that we get to know each other better, take care of each other better, understand and respect each other better. There are many Irelands. No two people in this room have the same story to tell. Every day people all over our country get up to face very different lives. Some children waken up to homes where there is no food for breakfast. Others waken up to disabilities or chronic illnesses that make their lives very, very hard and demand incredible courage. Still others came here to escape from poverty and persecution in foreign lands and they love Ireland but sometimes they are called names which fill them with worry and fear. We all need to be loved and to feel protected. We each can make a difference in the lives of others as we decide to care or not care, to be kind and understanding and welcoming or not to be. We have choices when so many in our world, our community have few or none. It is good to remember that as we go through life.
I said earlier that today is an important anniversary in our history. Today is also a day we have been planning for and looking forward to at the Áras for many months now and I hope you will be able to give me some assistance with the task in hand. Today we are launching a new website at the Áras for our younger citizens. It tells a little of the history of Phoenix Park and some of its treasures including the Áras, Farmleigh, the Zoo, Magazine Fort and Ashtown Visitors Centre. It uses games and quizzes but don’t worry there isn’t a simultaneous equation in sight! It also tells about my role as President. The new website can be found from today at www.araskids.ie and I hope that you enjoy it. I believe we have some volunteers who will in a few minutes give me their opinion on the new site. Thank you for your help and a big thanks to our friends from Ebow who have helped us with this web development project.
Before finishing, I would like to thank those who have entertained us so well this afternoon – flautist, Jack Sherry, St. Fintan’s College Choir from Mullingar and of course our MC, Paul Kennedy. I would also like to thank our friends from Civil Defence and my own staff here at the Aras who have worked very hard to make today enjoyable for everyone.
Go maire sibh. Go raibh maith agaibh.