McAleese welcomes Twelfth guests to Dublin
IRISH President Mary McAleese has praised the "courage and determination" of those — many Protestants — who accepted her invitation to a Twelfth of July celebration in her Dublin residence.
Speaking at the event, hosted on Sunday afternoon at ras an Uachtarin, the Ulster-born President said that a "growing tide of decency and risk-taking" would in time "flood the island of Ireland with trust and confidence" between both communities.
Addressing about 400 guests at the event, the President said: "I know for some coming here this day was much more than a journey of miles and kilometres but a longer and more difficult journey of the heart that took courage and determination.
"It is that same courage and determination which is investing in a fresh new future for all who share this island, allowing us to hope that the days of enmity are behind us and the days of good fellowship are ahead."
The event was the 12th Twelfth of July garden party which President McAleese has hosted at her official residence, and she said the Battle of the Boyne, more than three centuries ago, had changed the course of Irish and European history.
"Today we acknowledge our shared past and how it shaped our view of ourselves and of one another.
"We have not always used the past wisely or well.
"But we share a commitment to using the present to the best of our abilities to be more generous, respectful and caring of one another."
The President added: "This is not a day when we rerun the battle of the Boyne.
"History made some losers and some winners on that day.
"But there was a peace still to be made and centuries in its making.
"On this day we, their successors, are all winners for we are the peace-makers, the peace-builders and there is no greater gift we can leave behind us."
Entertainment at the garden party was provided by the pipes and drums of the PSNI and the band of An Garda Siochna, and Kintra, an Irish and Scottish traditional music group.
The President highlighted the very British history of the setting as having been "a mute witness to many different Irelands over the best part of three centuries".
"For most of its life, the house stood in an undivided Ireland which was part of the British Empire. It was the home of the Viceroys, and visited by monarch,"she said.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 14 February 2012
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Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
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