REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE FAMILY DAY (Children’s) RECEPTION ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE FAMILY DAY (Children’s) RECEPTION ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN SATURDAY, 8TH JULY, 2006.
Dia dhíbh go léir, agus fáilte.
Good afternoon, everybody.
I hope you are all in the best of spirits this afternoon. Both Martin and I would like to welcome you to this beautiful house – and our home for the last nine summers. It is a place that really comes alive with the presence of families, and especially the voices of children. So a big thank you to each of you, for coming here today from all over the island of Ireland to help us celebrate the summer. You have come with family and friends and they are the people who make us feel most at home, most loved. So today, we celebrate all the people we love and who love us. Maybe today you will make a new friend or meet up with someone you haven’t seen for a while. You’ll hear lovely music, eat lovely food, enjoy the house and garden, all created and offered by a huge team of people who want you to have a brilliant day. On your behalf and my own I thank all of them for working so hard to make this day as good as it can be.
I thank our wonderful entertainers this afternoon, Carl Corcoran’s great playing and singing, the Dex McLoughlin dancers, the Artane Senior band, and all the traditional singers and musicians.
A big thanks to our friends in the St John’s Ambulance Brigade, the Civil Defence, the Gardaí, the Defence Forces, the Tour Guides and the staff here at the Áras. They are here to make your day as much fun and as happy as you can possibly be.
Martin and I hope you have a great afternoon, that you travel safely home with happy memories of your visit to Áras an Uachtaráin.
Go raibh maith agaibh.