REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MILLENNIUM
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MILLENNIUM AIR SPECTACULAR
Is cúis mhór áthais dom bheith anseo libh inniu ag an ocaid specialta seo. Tá me buíoch díbh as an chuireadh agus an fáilte fíorchaoin a chur sibh romham
I am delighted to join this great gathering both on the ground and in the skies and delighted to have been invited to open Air Spectacular 2000.
It is good to see so many people here for what we know will be a marvellous and memorable family day out. Spectaculars such as this bring out the child in all of us and for all our sophisticated technology and computer systems the sight of a plane soaring through the heavens still has its own incomparable magic and wonder.
From the earliest times human beings have been fascinated and frustrated by flight. The Greek legend tells us about Daedaleus who fashioned wings with feathers and wax so that he and his son Icarus could flee to safety. It was an interesting if whimsical start to the aviation industry but thankfully we have come a long way since then!
Still the history of aviation starts inside the human imagination- daring to believe in the possibility of flight. Men and women throughout the ages have put their knowledge, their imagination and their very lives to the test to make the remarkable progress we will be witnesses to today.
We talk of the world as a global village, and there is no doubt that the arrival of the internet has transformed our age, altering almost overnight the way we do business, the way we communicate. But the pioneers of modern aviation helped sow the seeds of modern globalisation. Progress in aviation transformed our world, opened up new frontiers shrinking journeys around the world to uncannily manageable proportions. Journeys that would once have been regarded as a life time experience are now simply commonplace and air travel is an everyday part of life for many people.
The participants in today’s show, whose skill, courage, professionalism we will be privileged to witness, all share a particular spirit of adventure and liberation in their passion for flying. They commit to that passion, to the long hours of training and practice it demands, the risks its involves, the sheer concentration it consumes. We are grateful to all of them for giving us this day and for all they have done to make it specially thrilling.
I extend a special warm welcome to Ireland to our visiting teams of aviators from many parts of the world. I hope you too will have a memorable visit here and I know all of us are delighted you are here and we are looking forward to your displays and endeavours.
Space travel is of course the new frontier, the one which will truly challenge this millennium. Many of us are old enough to remember the first moon landing a little over thirty years ago. Only a handful of men and women in all of human history have experienced space travel and we are very privileged to have one of them with us today - the distinguished astronaut James F. Reilly. No doubt there will be many children and possibly a few adults, who will have questions to ask him about his many space adventures.
Today is of course a day for families, for all of us to enjoy all the air Spectacular has to offer. We are looking forward to the breath taking daring of the Utterly Butterly barnstormers who boast Europe’s only professional wing walking team. We look forward to the best aviation acts from all over the world performing intricate aerobatic manoeuvres of all kinds, and to the displays from the air forces of a number of countries including our own Air Corps.
As President I have special reason to be proud of the skills of our Air Corps. I travel with them regularly and know their care and commitment. Day in and day out they are called to put their lives on the line for others and they have done so with consummate heroism and devotion to duty.
Today’s show has come about because of the co- operative efforts of the Irish Aviation Council and the Shannon Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Special thanks is due to the Air Corps for their assistance and co-operation. Many hundreds of people have been working behind the scenes to create this special day for us and to ensure the safety and comfort of everyone whether in the air or on the ground.
Thank you all for your wonderful welcome to me and for the welcome and encouragement I know you will give the aviators who are getting ready to roar through the skies. It gives me great pleasure to declare this Air Spectacular open.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir.