REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE IN RECOGNITION OF THOSE INVOLVED IN CROSS-BORDER CO-OPERATION
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A RECEPTION AT ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN IN RECOGNITION OF THOSE INVOLVED IN CROSS-BORDER CO-OPERATION
Ladies and Gentlemen and Distinguished Guests.
I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all here this afternoon to Áras an Uachtaráin. I am delighted and honoured that you were able to come to this reception, especially since I know that many of you have travelled long distances to be here. What brings us here today is an acknowledgement of and celebration of sport as a gift at the heart of our lives.
Sport plays a unique role in life on this island. Thousands of people of all ages are involved every day of the year in playing, coaching, supporting and administering the demanding and often complex business of sport.
Sport is, of course, one of our great national passions and indeed is a source of great interest and enjoyment within my own family. For me, as for so many people on this island, it has provided some of my warmest memories and greatest friendships.
I remember as a child the great excitement generated by Ronnie Delaney's Gold medal in Melbourne, the exploits of the Northern Ireland soccer team in the 1958 World Cup Finals and Down's historic All Ireland Football win in 1960. As I grew older the contribution of women to Irish sporting successes came to the fore. Who can ever forget Mary Peter's great Gold Medal at the Munich Olympics or Sonia O'Sullivan's marvellous exploits on the tracks of the world over the last few years or Catriona McKernan whom I see with pride training each day in the Phoenix Park? To all those and the many others who have provided us with thrills and moments of great excitement, I would like to say thank you.
Sport provides excellent opportunities to promote and enhance co-operation and mutual understanding. At its very best, it requires respect for the other person, and the ability to compete in an atmosphere of discipline and honour. Sport plays a great part in bringing people together, provides them with shared interests and vitally those shared memories which build up friendship. Sport so often has been the forum which has helped us transcend boundaries of geography and boundaries of the mind.
An outstanding example of this is the fact that thirty-five of our National Governing Bodies of Sport are organised on an all-island basis, and are supported by the Irish Sports Council and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland, both of whom are represented here today. I am delighted to hear that both Councils are actively exploring a range of areas and possibilities for co-operation in the development of recreational sport.
I particularly welcome the Sport for All Leadership Award Scheme which was recently launched in Omagh, with the aid and support of both Councils and of the fund for Peace and Reconciliation. This initiative, and others like the very successful Youth Sport Foyle Project, are the result of much hard work and dedication over many years by people such as yourselves.
These schemes, and indeed all such successful schemes, are community based and provide opportunities for all, regardless of age, background or gender, to get involved. I applaud these initiatives and I know that they will prove to be an inspiration and act as role models for others. Co-operation of this type is already doing much to bring people from all communities throughout our island together in an atmosphere of friendship and trust. These occasions help to break down barriers, enabling individuals who might otherwise never meet, to come together and realise how much they can have in common with a little effort. The wonderful victory of the Ulster Team against Colomiers in the final of the European Rugby Championship in recent months - which brought so many Ulster men and women to Dublin for the first time - was an outstanding example of this. I still remember my sense of pride when the Sam Maguire came to Rostrevor and was met at the border by the Ulster Unionist Chairman of the Newry and Mourne Council. Of such seemingly small steps are bridges of peace built bit by bit.
Sport can also help to promote certain values which are a vital part of the development of a fully rounded personality. It combines a healthy approach to competitiveness with the concept of 'fair play'. The potential of sport to exert this influence is particularly important for young people.
All of you, whose daily business is sport have a vital and central role in helping children to grow and develop in a healthy, happy and balanced way. In all aspects of its operation sport must, for its very survival, value children and cherish childhood and it must be governed by an atmosphere which promotes positive adult-child relationships.
The backbone of Irish sport is the huge volunteering effort that people like you have contributed to sports clubs all over the country. It is essential that this effort is maintained and strengthened and you who are involved with sport on a day to day basis have a central role to play in achieving this. So often I know you can feel the task is thankless, the fight for funds, the struggle to interest a new generation, to get them to take over the baton of responsibility, the motivation when times are bad. But today it is important to say thank you for all you have done - in good and bad times.
All of you here today can take a bow for all the great work you have achieved in the development of your respective sports over the years. On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Ireland I would like to place on record our sincerest gratitude to you all for this great work. Long may it last. I myself owe a great debt to those who interested me in camogie and badminton as a youngster – who gave my husband his lifelong interest in Gaelic games – to those who sparked the imagination of my children and gave them a passion for rowing which helped them settle in Dublin and gave them a shared obsession. Watching the extraordinary efforts of the volunteers who run their clubs I am reminded humbly of the millions of volunteer hours without which our lives would be so impoverished. Thank you again for the gift of sports.
I think today that it is also fitting to pay tribute to the late Lord Kilannin who died on Sunday. We are indebted to him for his lifelong contribution to sport in Ireland.
Finally, I would once again like to say how delighted I am that you could be present here this afternoon. Please feel free to take a look around the house and enjoy our Visitor’s Centre downstairs. I hope that you enjoy the rest of the afternoon and I wish you every success in all your future work. I trust that through sport we will together create a future of mature relationships North and South out of which we will enjoy many happy days of sport in each others company.