REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A SENIOR CITIZENS AFTERNOON ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A SENIOR CITIZENS AFTERNOON ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN MONDAY, 13TH DECEMBER 2010
Dia dhíbh a chairde, céad mile fáilte romhaibh. Myself and Martin are absolutely delighted that you could join us here this afternoon for a hot cup of tea on this cold day here in Áras an Uachtaráin. To make your trip all the easier, we even pulled a few strings and arranged for today’s snow to be cancelled! I know, I know it would have been better 10 days ago but it was too good an opportunity to get Martin into town for a bit of shopping when he couldn’t do anything else!
We have people here from every part of Ireland: the Dolmen Active Retirement Association from Waterford, the Glenroe Ladies Active Retirement Group from Limerick, the Mitchel Street Residents Association from Tipperary, volunteers from Mrs Quinn’s Charity Shop in Galway, the Shilleagh Active Retirement Group from Wicklow, the Ferbane Social Services and last, but not least, the St John’s Retirement Group from the beautiful town of Kilkenny. . You’re all very welcome and it’s great that your visit comes at a time when this very special house is all done up for Christmas. I am also delighted to welcome Muireann Ni Dhubhghaill and Carmel Fay and thank them for adding so greatly to this occasion by providing such beautiful musical entertainment.
There’s an old Irish saying that sums up the value of old age: “bua na gaoise toradh na haoise” - the gift of wisdom is the fruit of age. You have seen many changes in your lifetimes and survived many challenges, epitimising resilience and strength. I always think your generation must look back with so much pride on all you have achieved. Most of you will have grown up in a time of hardship and depression, part of an introverted and self effacing nation with an enormous inferiority complex as we hovered shyly on the edge of Europe. You will remember, all too clearly, a time when further education was a privilege for the few, foreign travel the preserve of an elite and terms such as ‘career path’ and ‘job satisfaction’ an unheard of luxury as parents struggled to simply earn enough to feed their families. As you look around you today at the well educated, well travelled, professional and confident Europeans we have become, you must feel a great swelling of pride. A pride that comes from knowing that it was your sacrifices and your determination that moved us beyond the confines of our small Island and out onto the global stage. It was your ‘making do’ and ‘doing without’ that saw a whole new generation of Irish people regard secondary education as a social norm and entry to third level institutions as an accessible goal. It was your guts and sense of fair play that shaped the more equal and flexible society we inhabit today. You have an awful lot to pat yourselves on the back for. You are the generation that got it right and crafted much that is good and wonderful about this country of ours.
You are also the generation for whom community spirit and neighbourliness are a way of life, and a generation that sometimes looked on with dismay as these traits seemed to disappear as we became a more urbanized and more affluent society. I am sure, though, that you were reassured during the recent cold spell when you saw everyone rallying around to help, neighbours clearing each other’s drives, passers by stopping to help push cars out of snowdrifts, people making their way down snowy lanes and icy cul-de-sacs to check on elderly acquaintances and make sure they had everything they needed. This great meitheal of effort was a timely reminder to all of us of one of the greatest gifts your generation has passed on to my generation and to my children’s generation - that unique spirit of co operation and teamwork that will move us out of these difficult times and is providing such a bright light of optimism during these dark mid winter days. I want to thank you all for passing on that flaming torch of solidarity, camaraderie and hope. It is our greatest strength as a people, one that has never let us down before and one I am confident will not let us down now.
Thank you again for coming here today. I hope you have a very enjoyable afternoon here in Aras an Uachtarain.
Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir.