Speech at a Community Garden Party
Áras an Uachtaráin, 6 July 2017
A Dhaoine Cóir, A Cáirde Dílis,
Tugann sé an-áthas dom fhéin agus do mo bhean chéile Shaibhín fíorchaoín fáilte a fhearadh romhaibh go léir go dtí Áras an Uachtaráin tráthnóna. Tá súil againn go bhfuil sibh uilig ag baint taitneamh as bhúr gcuairt ar an teach agus ar na gairdíní.
[Sabina and I are delighted to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon. I hope you are all enjoying your visit to the house and gardens.]
The garden party season is a special time of the year here in the Áras. It gives Sabina and I an opportunity to meet members of communities, so many citizens who by their involvement in communities, are engaged in acts of cohesion or solidarity, some are building new communities across Ireland, and in doing so promoting real participation, citizenship. Sabina and I are delighted to have the opportunity to invite them to enjoy for a while the house and the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin.
You are all so welcome whether you have come as members of a family, a workplace, a profession, or a friendship or activity group. However, you have made your contact you will have had a variety of experiences and a multitude of different stories to share.
All of us are complex, social beings. We are people who both need, and thrive, on a sense of solidarity with others and we are enriched by a sense of unity, kinship and belonging when it can be achieved.
Community spirit, for which we, here in Ireland, are so dependent and are so renowned is a very valuable aspect of our identity. It is, therefore, as activists and members of communities that you, our guests, have written in or contacted us and have been invited here today to Áras an Uachtaráin.
This, the seventh garden party of eight for 2017 has in attendance a strong representation from the West of Ireland. Muintir Iarthár na hÉireann - Thank you for the effort you all have made to travel to be with us.
I speak often, as President of Ireland, about the importance of creating societies that are ethical and inclusive. However, ethical societies can only grow from ethical communities; communities that work together, in solidarity, recognising the needs of all their members including those who are vulnerable and marginalized.
Sabina and I have shared with many of you here today many decades of campaigning, advocacy, rights and inclusion. What you have given has been your time, your commitment, your life, and what you have been giving, and continue to give, will have a legacy, and is exemplary.
The campaigns we shared over the years stretched from equality, women’s rights, housing, economy, war and peace, rights of travellers, to global issues of our present times such as climate change and sustainable development.
It is within our communities and throughout the discourse they hear, as well as formal education, that our young people are first exposed to the concept of citizenship. That early experience of debating and experiencing community life, of inhabiting, in conditions of change, a space that is shared with others, is a critical factor in shaping the future citizen they will become. It is so important that communities promote a sense of solidarity and cohesion amongst its members, identifying what is necessary to be achieved, confronting and challenging obstacles to equality and thus enabling our young people to experience that all important sense of belonging to, and identifying with, a place that they will always regard as ‘home’.
One of the most enjoyable experiences as President of Ireland is having the opportunity to witness and share in very many community events across the country, and to be able to hear the advocacy that is under way.
These community occasions may be diverse in nature but they are always uplifting occasions, celebratory occasions, and a reminder of the power of genuine solidarity to transform, re-imagine, restore and renew.
The community response with its offer of assistance and solidarity to other citizens has often surprised many as it has provided opportunities and possibilities that would once have seemed unattainable.
I have witnessed, time and again, the genuine communal pride when Tidy Town awards are achieved. I have seen the intergenerational turnout for a school which is celebrating a significant anniversary. I have seen derelict spaces re-imagined into places where residents can gather together to socialise and learn new skills.
I have seen so many examples of care and compassion as members of a community come together to fund raise, to look after their elderly and sick and to lobby for much needed facilities for their vulnerable and marginalised.
At the heart of all this activity lies an acknowledgement of the importance of the public space, the public world, and a citizen awareness that brings with it, not only a sense of belonging, but a sense of responsibility for those with whom we share that public space.
We all have, in our own way, the capacity and the opportunity, and, may I say, even the obligation, to play our part, in our time, in creating and nurturing a vibrant, caring and forward looking society, one which will include each and every member and enable them to fully participate in our shared lives together.
Finally, I hope today those of you who know each other will enjoy the opportunity for a conversation in this setting, that you will make new friends. Friendship is one of the most important values in life. Aristotle said that the demands of friendship are greater than the demands of justice and they are not quantifiable.
So today, let me celebrate friendship and may I, once again, congratulate and commend all of you for the efforts you generously and unstintingly are putting into your role as citizens, for working so hard to keep community and family at the heart of our society.
Is iontach an rud é, fiú leis na deacrachtaí ar fad a thit orainn mar phobal le blianta beaga anuas, go bhfuil saoránacht ghníomhach, comhpháirtíocht áitiúil agus meanma pobail fós le braith i gcroí lár ár mbailte, ár sráidbhailte, ár bparóistí ar fud na tíre agus I gcroidthe ár gcáirde.
I would like to conclude by thanking all those who have worked so hard on behalf of the Áras to make this a wonderful occasion for you. A big thank you to our MC Maura Derrane and to the talented performers who have provided such magnificent entertainment throughout the afternoon: Arthur Greene (on piano); The Irish Prison Service Pipe Band; Colm Fahy, Ruairí Ó hArgáin, Aoife Ní hArgáin (Trad. Group); Terry Moylan (Piper); Síofra Ní Dhughaill (Harpist); Naoise Ó Briain (Flautist); the Havana Club Trio; In the Marqee - the Keltic Kats; Ryan Sheridan; Music Generation Laois, and Walking on Cars. Sabina and I are greatly looking forward to seeing more performances in a few minutes.
How is all this made possible? Through a generous and enthusiastic staff.
On your behalf and my own, I salute the hard work, unfailing good humour and – not least – culinary skills of the staff here in Áras an Uachtaráin.
Could I also thank Dee Rogers who is the maestro of our entertainment programme and draws all elements together with such style. Molaim é. Also, may I thank all of our colleagues in the OPW and Bill Garrioch from the Transport Museum for their assistance.
Our thanks for the assistance of the Civil Defence, our friends from St. John of Gods, the Defence Forces, and our Gaisce volunteers.
Sabina and I hope you have a great afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your time here and thank you for coming.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.