REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE PRESIDENT’S PRIZE TO THE IRISH RED CROSS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE PRESIDENT’S PRIZE TO THE IRISH RED CROSS SOCIETY
Is ocáid speisialta í seo domsa agus is cúis mhór áthais dom fáilte a chur romhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin.
I am delighted to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin on this very special celebration of the diamond anniversary of the Irish Red Cross. One of the privileges of being President of Ireland, is that it brings with it the great honour of President of the Irish Red Cross. That is a sign of the unique esteem and respect in which this organisation is held by the Irish people – respect which you have earned over and over down through the years. Tonight, on behalf of the people of Ireland and from my own heart, I would like to say a very warm thank you to all of you – to your Chairman, Richie Ryan, and to all of the Red Cross members and volunteers who have given so generously of their time, energy and commitment to so many deserving causes over the past 60 years.
We are fortunate that Ireland today is a place of growing confidence and increasing prosperity – a country which is at ease with itself in Europe and on the world stage. It is a very different society from the one which gave birth to the Irish Red Cross at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. As we struggled to meet the needs of our people in areas such as health care, blood transfusion and water safety – services which we now take for granted – the Red Cross stepped in to fill the breach. You did not stand on the sidelines, waiting for others to do the necessary. You saw what needed to be done and you extended a helping hand – quietly and effectively. Your work helped to seed-bed a better future which we now enjoy today. I would like to say a special word of welcome to the older members of the Red Cross who have joined us here this evening. I warmly commend the foresight and initiative which you and your colleagues demonstrated in those early years. Your collective wisdom and strength helped to shape a more humanly decent life for all our people and we thank you most sincerely for that.
Times have changed for the better in many ways since those dark years of the Second World War when Europe was torn apart by hatred and bloodshed and the Irish Red Cross welcomed refugees from Northern Ireland, Britain and Europe to our shores. Yet, the recent conflict in Kosovo has demonstrated how little things have changed for some people. Conflict and violence continue to scar the souls and lives of so many of our fellow inhabitants of this small world, and the need for organisations such as the Irish Red Cross remains as great as ever.
Our present affluence as a society confers an even stronger responsibility on us to retain the generous and welcoming nature that characterised us as a people when we had little. It would be a great tragedy if our prosperity gave rise to an attitude of complacency or selfishness. For we as a people have known great hardship ourselves and have benefited individually and collectively from the generosity of others.
All of you within the Irish Red Cross are helping to ensure that this is not the case – that our proud tradition of helping those in need is upheld and strengthened. You are our conscience, the hands of our work, the people who remind us of the great need that still exists in our world, and our obligation to respond to those needs at home and abroad.
I would like to especially commend you on the wonderful support that the Irish Red Cross has given older members of our society. The services you provide - such as meals on wheels, home helps, clubs and outings – have made an enormous difference to the lives of so many. They have enabled many older people to remain independent for longer, to stay in touch with old friends and to make new ones, to cross the artificial boundaries of generation and age that are so often spuriously imposed by our society. In this, the UN Year of Older Persons, it is all the more important that we bridge those generation gaps, for we need the wisdom and experience that older people have to offer – and they have the right to expect that the time and the talent that they so richly possess are valued by our community. The practical support you offer to older people and their carers achieve this in a very real and useful way. I warmly congratulate you for that work – for your care and dedication towards all those in need.
That spirit of commitment is the reason the Irish Red Cross Society has gone from strength to strength over the past 60 years. I hope you will enjoy this evening’s celebrations and I wish you every success for the next 60 years.
Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl agaibh. Gura fada buan sibh.