REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION TO CELEBRATE EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS OF DOMINICAN LIFE ÁRAS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION TO CELEBRATE EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS OF DOMINICAN LIFE ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN SUNDAY, 1 JUL
Dia dhíbh go léir, agus céad míle fáilte romhaibh. Good evening, everybody.
Martin and I are delighted to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin this evening to take part in this very particular celebration of eight hundred years of Dominican life through a reunion of the St. Dominic’s class of 1962- 1969 and our teachers and spiritual directors. It’s great to see so many here and to know what care you have taken to be here, for there are many who have made huge journeys from all over the world. That says something about the importance of the Dominicans in our lives. The eighth centenary celebrations have been going on in Ireland and all around the globe and they have taken many forms—ours has a special intimacy and relevance for most of us were launched into adult life through the cannon of the Dominican charism. For us this is primarily a reunion, a chance to meet up with long lost friends and a chance too to say thank you to those who helped us through those years and on our way through life. Not all are here, so we think of those who are dead and gone but whose memories we carry.
We probably were not deeply aware of it back in our schooldays but ours was a generation like no other that had gone before—for the world was opening up to women and women to the world in ways that simply had not been available to our mothers. College education, jobs, membership of professions: these things became our choice and our chance. In St. Dominic’s the ambition to be women whose contributions would extend beyond the domestic sphere was nurtured and encouraged. O.K. men were discouraged and we were scarred for life by being forced always to dance the male part in waltzes and military two steps and we can never hear a bell being rung without our nerves being shredded and we are amazed to find that our daughters unlike us are wearing their school uniforms way too short.
But for us who exited St. Dominic’s as hell broke out all around us, the friendships and formation of our years there become our anchor, our scaffolding, our support. Now as remarkably young looking middle-aged women we meet again with so much to tell one another that there is no time for speeches—just time, an all too short time, to re-enter each others’ lives with the wisdom and compassion that comes from life’s ups and downs and with the joyful curiosity that I hope has never left us.
The nuns are gone from St Dominic’s and from Dominican education in Ireland. If in this 8ooth anniversary year they like many orders and congregations are feeling a bit lost as vocations all but disappear, in and through our lives they can see the clear evidence of a job well done, a torch handed seamlessly on. We all take pride in the old school and wish the soon to be built new school every success.
Enjoy the house, the craic and the camaraderie.
The house and grounds teams have worked tremendously hard to ensure the day is a day of welcome and happy memories. To the gang of classmates who helped us get all the names and addresses—a big thank you. It was a mammoth task and if you meet anyone who was left out tell them we tried our very best and to get in touch and we can invite them to the house another time. Many thanks to our wonderful entertainers for the marvellous performances today, and also to the teams from the Áras, St John’s Ambulance Brigade, the Civil Defence, the Gardaí, the Defence Forces and the Tour Guides.
Martin and I hope you have a great evening, and return home safely, bringing many fond memories of your visit to Áras an Uachtaráin.
Go raibh mile maith agaibh go léir.