PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE OPENS RESTORED PROMENADE AT GREENORE CO.LOUTH THURSDAY 7TH MAY, 1998
PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE OPENS RESTORED PROMENADE AT GREENORE CO.LOUTH THURSDAY 7TH MAY, 1998
President Mary McAleese, today opened the newly restored promenade at Greenore Co. Louth, at the invitation of the Residents/Tidy Towns Association at Greenore.
The President said that she was delighted to accept the invitation from James Larkin to perform the opening ceremony, and she referred to the close proximity of Greenore to County Down which was her home prior to her inauguration as President. She also referred to the long-standing connection between Áras an Uachtaráin and Greenore, pointing out that it was a former resident of the Áras, Earl Spencer - the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland – who had officially opened the Victorian railway village of Greenore almost exactly 125 years ago. The President said that she was delighted to have the opportunity to renew the connection between Greenore and the former Vice-regal Lodge – now Áras an Uachtaráin – on this important anniversary of the foundation of the village.
Referring to the changes that the village had seen since it was opened 125 years ago, the President said that, like other towns and villages in Ireland, Greenore had had to face the consequences of change. The President recalled how it had lost its significance as a railway village in the 1950’s when the railway closed, and how it subsequently went into decline as young people moved away to find employment. She said that the recent years of economic progress and development had spawned a new self-confidence at national an local levels, which was making it possible for communities in cities, town and villages throughout Ireland to harness their energies and talents - to gather the resources they needed to meet their own problems and challenges - and to improve their own place. Communities have a positive attitude and a willingness to turn challenge to opportunity and to work for themselves through partnerships and linkages with official and voluntary bodies.
Referring to the efforts by the community at Greenore, the President said that what they had achieved in bringing the promenade back from oblivion had not come about just by accident. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work, dedication, commitment - but most of all, belief that it could be done. It was this belief and determination that had persuaded the County Louth Task Force on the Special Programme for Peace & Reconciliation that it was a project worthy of support. The Promenade is an amenity which will be enjoyed by resident and visitor alike – especially those from ‘across the Lough’ who socialise in Greenore.
In congratulating the people of Greenore on their achievement, the President said that they could now draw on their success, and use it to meet the new challenges that they will face in the years and decades ahead. She said that no community is static, that they are in a constant state of change - but meeting change was the secret to making progress and ensuring long-term viability as a community.