REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON HER VISIT TO PRIMARY AND POST PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THE CURRAGH
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON HER VISIT TO PRIMARY AND POST PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THE CURRAGH THURSDAY 25TH MAY 2000
A Chairde,
Tá athás orm bheith i bhur measc inniu.
My visit to the Curragh would not be complete without meeting the young people of this area. So I am particularly delighted to be with you here today and I would like to thank your school principals, Colette Behan, Michael Deeley and Brian Donoghue for asking me.
I promise that I will keep my comments to you brief because I wouldn’t like to keep you from your schoolwork for too long for I know how much you love homework! I didn’t like it much when I was at school and when I complained my granny would say- “You don’t have to like it you just have to do it!” I am glad she kept me at it for now I do know why it is so important to work hard at school and to use every minute of your time well. Your teachers and parents want the very best futures for you and they know that Tus maith is leath na hoibre- a good start is half the work and that is what you are getting here- not just a good start but a great start. For you have something very precious and special here which a lot of other children do not have.
You belong to a very special community here in the Curragh. A community is more than just a bunch of people who happen by accident to live together. It means people who have a rich store of shared memories and experiences which have bonded them to each other in very special ways. Here it means people who have strong links to our armed forces with their many stories of courage and pride and loss and sadness and comradeship and caring for one another.
There is a strong community spirit, a shared identity and outlook of belonging, among all of you here today. It is a very precious thing to have and of course it knits the schools into the very fabric of the locality.
Your schools have strong links with army personnel who live and work in this area. I know about the great involvement of the Army in transition year subjects and of the fact that members of the army are also students here but the links go even deeper than these strong present day links. Many of the children here are second or maybe even third generation of families who have attended the local primary and post primary schools. Some of the teachers have even taught your parents – and I’ve even heard it said that you are every bit as clever as your parents were when they were at school!
Your teachers obviously love teaching you because none of them seem to want to leave you. In the girls primary school, Mrs. Behan and Mrs O Riordan are here for over 20 years and that in the boys school there are also teachers with long service records. What wonderful testimony that is to the people of this area and what an investment in the lives of the Curragh’s young boys and girls.
The community in the Curragh is positive proof of the Irish saying - Níl neart go cur le cheile – our strength is in our unity.
At this time of year some of you are studying very hard for your examinations. It is a difficult time but the schools have prepared you well and though it is you who must answer the questions and do the revision, nonetheless you are not alone. A lot of people have invested their time and gifts in you. They know you are ready and able to take on what is in front of you and to do yourselves justice. While you do the work the rest of us do the praying- hoping that you will get through them well and set yourselves on course for the great adventure that lies ahead in your lives. We all wish you every success for the weeks and years ahead.
I have had a lovely time with you here today. It has been a day to remember. Thank you for your warm and very friendly welcome.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir.