Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

On behalf of the Labour Party, I am honoured to offer thanks and congratulations to President Mary McAleese as she completes her 14-year term of office today.

During the recent presidential election, there was extensive discussion and debate about the office of President and the desirable attributes in one who holds that office. In fact, those are things that it is extremely difficult to articulate in an abstract fashion. The simple truth is that we know a great President when we see one. It is fair to say that President McAleese was not entirely a household name when she first offered herself for election to her office. In that election, she won the support of the people of Ireland through her obvious personal qualities, her impressive qualifications, and her message of bridge-building and peace-making.

Since that time, she has gone on to win over, not just the minds of the Irish people but also their hearts. Over 14 years, she has come to be held in the highest esteem by the Irish people.

The Office of President is hard to define. A President is as much a moral, as a political leader. A President shares in the good times and is a pillar of support in bad times. President McAleese was all of these and more. From the very beginning she made it her mission, in her own words, to build bridges on the island of Ireland. She made it her particular mission - assisted by her husband, Senator Martin McAleese - to establish connections with people in the loyalist community in particular - people who have in the past been alienated, not just from the South, but in some cases from the rest of society in Northern Ireland. In undertaking this work, the President and Senator McAleese have been prepared to take risks, but they have achieved quite dramatic results. I pay particular tribute to them today.

It is widely known that President McAleese worked tirelessly to improve relations, not just on a North-South basis but also between Ireland and our nearest neighbour the United Kingdom. She has spoken in particular of the importance that she attached to the recent and highly successful State visit by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. This was a true milestone in the improving and maturing relations between our two countries.

I understand that Queen Elizabeth has today written to President McAleese, offering her own thanks and congratulations on the occasion of her stepping down from office. She has recalled with fondness their many meetings, beginning at the Peace Park in Messines and culminating in the recent State Visit. I believe it fair to say that their joint work has contributed greatly to the huge advances that have been made in Anglo-Irish relations in the past 14 years.

A President is, quite rightly, referred to as our first citizen. In a Republic all citizens are equal and in this Republic we do not confer titles of nobility on each other. Yet, we also know that a republic stands or falls on the willingness of individual citizens to serve it. President McAleese has been a true embodiment of this ideal of public service. She has been the first citizen, but also the first servant of the people. I offer her my warmest thanks and congratulations. I wish her, Martin and their family health and happiness in the years ahead. Go n-éirí le Máire Mac Giolla Íosa ins na blianta atá rómhainn agus ár míle buíochas leí as a sár-obair, as a saothar agus as thorthaí a huachtaránachta.

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