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President's St. Patrick's Day Message - 2006
by Mary McAleese

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh go léir, sa bhaile agus ar fud an domhain.

I wish to send warm greetings on this St Patrick's Day to Irish people at home and abroad, and to Ireland's friends around the globe.

Today is a day of celebration in Ireland and for our global Irish family throughout the world. Over many decades the people of Ireland, resolute in their belief in freedom, democracy and human rights and the pursuit of truth, justice and peace, have worked to create the successful Ireland of today. We can all bear witness to the arduous trials of our predecessors. Yet, through it and perhaps because of it, we have built a new confidence and sense of direction – our collective aim to create a better Ireland and a better life for our children and our children's children.

Many years of hard work have gone into our economic development which has blossomed in recent years. We have created a society in which the traditional welcome for the stranger is extended to people from many countries whose endeavours have contributed hugely to our economy and to enriching our cultural diversity. We are building new communities, transforming inhabitants into neighbours and neighbours into friends. Our national emblem, the shamrock, itself teaches us to honour unity in diversity even as it celebrates diversity in unity.

Our country today is vibrant, cosmopolitan and filled with energy and, with our own distinctive national character and our international relations are playing an important part in our maturing as a nation and deepening our understanding of our place in the world. The world is ever-changing and we accept that we need to change with it. Greater understanding of our fellow members of the European Union, and of the wider world, is a central part of meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities which lie before us. I am confident that the strength of Ireland's culture and values will stand to us in the future.

To my fellow Irish citizens, and to our friends celebrating this day with us, may I say, in the words of St Patrick himself:

A blessing on their peaks,
On their bare flagstones,
A blessing on their glens,
A blessing on their ridges.
Like the sand of the sea under ships,
Be the number in their hearths;
On slopes, on plains,
On mountains, on hills, a blessing.

I wish all of you a very happy and peaceful St Patrick's Day.
Go mbainimís ar fad sult agus aoibhneas as an lá speisialta seo.

Mary McAleese
President of Ireland


A Brief Biography
Ireland's President was born Mary Leneghanon 27 June, 1951. She married Martin McAleese in 1976 and they have three children, Emma, Saramai and Justin.

After graduating from Queen's University Belfast, Mary was called to the Northern Ireland Bar and practised mainly in criminal and family law.

In 1975 she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology in Trinity College Dublin, a position she held until 1979 when she joined RTÉ as a journalist and presenter. She returned to the Reid Professorship at Trinity in 1981, while still continuing part-time with RTÉ.

In 1987, Mary McAleese was appointed Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies which trains barristers and solicitors for the legal profession in Northern Ireland. In 1994, she was appointed a Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast.

On 11 November, 1997, Mary McAleese was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland.

Resources: Speexch, photo and bio from Irish Government Online

Click here for President McAleese's 2004 & 2005 speeches.

Click here for President McAleese's 2003 & 2002 speeches.