REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION IN ARAS AN UACHTARAIN TUESDAY, 16TH JANUARY 2001
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION IN ARAS AN UACHTARAIN TUESDAY, 16TH JANUARY 2001
Is cúis mhór áthais dom fáilte a chur romhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin.
It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin. You’ve come from all over this island to be with us today, and I know we’ve a great mix of people here, people from all walks of life, all perspectives, each very different in so many ways but each one capable of offering the remarkable gift of friendship to each other and of course each one very, very welcome to this house. Martin and myself are delighted you could be here for our very first gathering of the New Year, and we hope you will relax and enjoy your visit to this beautiful house, which we have the privilege of calling home.
The New Year is always a time of fresh starts and new resolutions, some easier to keep than others. I hope that this coming year will be a good one for all of you, and for all the people of this island. We are so lucky that thanks to the work of the peacemakers and to the prosperity makers there is much more to look forward to than ever before.
One of the things the future holds is greater opportunity for respectful friendships between those of us who share this island. Many of you do not know each other and many of you, Martin and I are meeting for the first time, so we have our own opportunity right here to be interested in each other, to hold out a hand to a stranger and to begin that process of widening our circle of friends and acquaintances to make room for a few more. It is never the easiest thing to do, to get into chat with a stranger but this room may make it easier because you’re all in the same boat, probably looking around this room, wondering where it fits in with the Áras and what to make of these extraordinary paintings.
This room is called Seomra de hÍde – named in honour of the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde. It started off life a century and a half ago as a Racquet Hall, a place where indoor games were played – so the Irish weather hasn’t changed all that much in the meanwhile. Over the years though the place fell into disrepair, but last year thanks to the fantastic Office of Public Works, it was renovated and now provides a very welcome space for receptions such as this. And of course it has been greatly enhanced by these magnificent paintings by Hughie O Donoghue, from his series Episodes from the Passion. They are on loan to the Irish people and given their size I think you’ll agree that it isn’t every room that could take paintings of such monumental proportions. We are very proud of the fact that this room allows them to be exhibited to their best advantage.
You’re also very welcome to have a stroll through our beautiful gardens later on, and to see the formal rooms in the Áras. The House has a fascinating story to tell in its own right: For one hundred and fifty years it was the Viceregal Lodge, frequently visited by the British monarchs and their families and home to the Monarch’s representative in Ireland, the Viceroy. Later it became the residence of the President of Ireland and it has been home to eight Presidents. Today the stories of all those people and all those they represented are captured under its roof. It draws together the different strands of our history, giving to each its space, acknowledging that no-one story has ownership of history and like strands in a rope we have shaped and been shaped by each other. Today, this a place for all traditions and cultures of this island to gather without feeling alien or outcast and to find some familiar part of their own story.
I would like to thank our wonderful entertainers who have helped make today a special day for you: our Harpist, Aisling Ennis, who welcomed you into the Front Hall with her beautiful playing; and in this room, we have ‘The Conservatory of Music Trio – Emma McNaughton on Cello, Claire McNaughton on Piano and Micheline Kinsella on Violin. A warm thank you to all of them.
I hope that all of you have a most enjoyable afternoon, and that you bring home many warm memories of your visit to Áras an Uachtaráin.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.