REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT AN INTERNATIONAL FAMILY GARDEN PARTY, ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT AN INTERNATIONAL FAMILY GARDEN PARTY, ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN, MONDAY, 11th JULY, 2005
Is cúis mhór áthais dom fáilte a chur romhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin inniu.
Martin and I are delighted to welcome each and every one of you all here today to Áras an Uachtaráin. Céad Míle Fáilte, one hundred thousand welcomes, to each one of you and especially those who have come from so many different parts of the world.
Irish people have always taken pride in the label ‘Ireland of the Welcomes’. You are the test of the strength and sincerity of that welcome and it is my fervent hope that whatever your circumstances – your dignity as a human being is honoured by all those you meet here. Not so long ago, we Irish exported our people around the world because there was so little opportunity for them at home. We have generations of experience of emigration. We know what it is to be uprooted and alone, to be full of hope and frightened at the same time. We know what it is like to live without the support of close family and community. We also have long experience of being excluded and cruelly stereotyped. Today things are different and a modern successful Ireland is now a land of opportunity that attracts men and women from far and near.
It is perhaps our historic experience of emigration and of division on this island that has given all right-minded people a strong attachment to the values of justice and equality and an aversion to bigotry and prejudice. We have witnessed an increase in ethnic diversity in Ireland in recent years. It has brought a welcome, wonderful cultural and social enrichment to this country, which we enjoy in so many ways.
We in Ireland are committed to building a society where diversity is respected, where the rights and interests of all who share our society are upheld and enhanced, and we are committed to upholding human rights and respect for the rule of law.
We owe it especially to our children to play our part in developing an intercultural society where they are comfortable with, and welcoming of, friendships with those from other countries. We want no bigotry taught in our homes or practised on our streets. Our republic honours its founders and honours its future when we insist on celebrating diversity as a way of life.
Your presence here today is precisely that, a celebration of the wonderful diversity which is such a very positive influence on life in Ireland today. Just as we Irish brought our language, music, poetry, literature, values and character as gifts to the countries in which we put down new roots, so you too bring those unique gifts of yours to us. The wells that future generations draw from will be the deeper and the better for the new tributaries that flow into them.
I hope you enjoy this historic house, that you feel welcomed here and that you will leave with a happy memory and maybe a new friend or two. So take the time to reach out a hand in friendship to those you don’t know - it is the quickest way and the only way to make a caring community out of strangers. The easiest bridge is the bridge of a handshake.
I would like to finish by thanking our wonderful entertainers who have helped make today so very special for all of us: the African drummers, the Kurdish children dancers, the Roma musicians and the Filipino singers, not to mention our balloon modeller and the face painters who have given so much pleasure to the youngsters. I would also like to thank members of St John’s Ambulance Brigade, Civil Defence, the Gardaí, the tour guides and to the staff of the Áras, particularly the gardening staff who have succeeded in making the garden perfect, just when I thought they couldn’t make it any better.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.