REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION TO RECOGNISE THE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OF MEDIA
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION TO RECOGNISE THE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM TO IRISH SOCIETY
Dia dhíbh a chairde go léir ‘s fáilte chuig Áras an Uachtaráin.
Good morning everybody and a heartfelt welcome to Áras an Uachtaráin and to this reception to recognise and to honour the significant contribution of media and journalism to Irish society. Coming close to the tenth anniversary of my first election as President I wondered how best to mark it and this is the company I chose.
All public figures have their good days and bad days with the media and vice versa. The tensions in such relationships are part of the necessary and healthy checks and balances in a democratic society. Neither is infallible and all are human. Mostly our intentions are good. We all like to be thanked and today I thank you for all you have done these past ten years to inform, challenge, analyse and educate the public and me about this presidency, along with all the other important stuff that only gets onto people’s agendas or into their hearts and heads because you managed to put it there.
I am rarely in the elevated company of editors but almost every day I am in the company of journalists and especially of press photographers and television and radio crews. We have travelled Ireland and the globe together and they have in stories and powerful pictures told the stories I could not tell without them and some I would never have told only for them! They have been the eyes and ears of the people who elected me - a public service, a public resource. While never falsely deferential and sometimes harshly critical, in the best tradition of our republic of equals they have almost invariably been unfailingly courteous and respectful of the Office of President, something I am proud of, for where two or more Presidents are gathered it is obvious that such an experience is not universal. I hope that in their dealings with me and the Office of the President they have found the same courtesy and respect for their professionalism too for I still remember what it was like to do the job that many of you do. It is not easy to be the watcher, the observer, the eye-witness, often the outsider at the gathering, the person who has to meet the deadline and compete with colleagues for relevance and space.
No doubt there will be many paragraphs and musings provoked by this anniversary. But whatever the verdict, here is mine on those who told the stories, whether in local papers and radio or national press and radio and television - a job well done and much appreciated, not just by me but by thousands of readers, listeners and viewers who are interested in how they are represented and who like me, need you to keep open the lines of communication.
As times change and the new Press Council and office of Press Ombudsman come into being I offer them my good wishes for what will surely be a new era. To each of you I give my thanks for the work you do and the vocation you have to keep the public informed. Thank you for being here today and I hope you enjoy the house and its hospitality.