REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT FÉILE NA nGAEL IN CASEMENT PARK, BELFAST SATURDAY, 22ND JUNE, 2002
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT FÉILE NA nGAEL IN CASEMENT PARK, BELFAST SATURDAY, 22ND JUNE, 2002
Dia dhíobh a cháirde. Tá an-áthas orainn bheith anseo i bhur measc inniú.
Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin.
Ladies, Gentlemen, Girls and Boys
It is a great pleasure for Martin and I to be back in our native city for this great occasion - the 32nd annual Féile na Gael. My sincere thanks to An Cumann Lúthchleas Gael for inviting us to join this marvellous colourful and talented gathering from every county in Ireland.
A big Céad Míle Fáilte to every single one of you. You now join the ranks of half a million boys and girls who have taken part in Féile since it was founded by Seamus O’Riain back in 1971. Like you they paraded proudly in their team colours and competed against each other with passion. But off the fields of play they made friends with brother and sister Gaels from every corner of Ireland and they created memories of shared fun and respectful rivalry – the kind of friendships and memories that last a lifetime.
Here in Casement Park today there are over 4,000 competitors, 4,000 boys and girls who are the future of our Gaelic games. Your love of sport brings you fitness, friends, and focus. It brings you days of great success and days of disappointment. You learn how to cope with these things. You learn what it is to be part of a team, to respect the different talents of other players. You get to travel far beyond your own parish and county. You find that strangers all over Ireland share your love of sport and that once you start to share that common interest you are not strangers any more. You learn too that many people are interested in helping you to be the best you can be, from coaches, to club organisers, from teachers to parents there is a huge network of support that works day in and day out just for you. From the trainers to the jersey washers, from the fund-raisers to the committee men and women, they give up hours and hours of their free time every week.
Why? Because they believe in you, they hope in you and they want the very best for you - so that you can be the best.
We owe all those volunteers so many thanks for helping our young people to blossom and to become strong, resilient, confident human beings. When you are strong and confident our country is strong and confident. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to
An Cumann Lúthchleas Gael for the way it nurtures Gaelic sports from generation to generation and for making sure that our young people have the widest opportunities to become involved in sport.
Our thanks too are owed to the Irish Sports Council and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland for their enthusiasm, co-operation and dedication to promoting sport for young people throughout this island.
Féile is about more than playing games. It draws each one of you deeply into your culture, your community, your county, your country. You are making your own sporting history. You are learning that you can make a contribution not just to your own life but to the life of your own community. When you make your community proud, you make your community a better place to live.
What makes a community proud is not always winning, not always bringing medals home but doing your best, showing what you are made of, earning respect, as real triers. Enjoy the games for the signs are already on it that this is going to be the best Féile na nGael ever.
The sixteen bands from all over Ulster and the magnificent Artane Boys band have created a wonderful mood already with their fantastic performances. Belfast has looked forward to this weekend when it gets a chance to play host to the junior branch of the big family that is the GAA.
Make yourselves at home here for that is what the Féile organisers would wish – that wherever you go in the world with a hurley or a handball or a Gaelic football and wherever you meet another hurler, handballer or footballer you will always be among friends, always part of the family of the Gael.
Ar aghaidh le Féile na nGael. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.