Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Ar son fhoireann Shinn Féin san Oireachtas agus san Tionól sa Tuaisceart, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le hUachtarán na hÉireann, Máire Mac Giolla Íosa, as an sár-obair atá déanta aice le 14 bliana anuas. Inniu a lá deireannach in oifig an Uachtaráin agus is maith an rud go bhfuil an t-ómós seo á thabhairt againn di agus dá fhear céile, Martin.

On behalf of the Sinn Féin Oireachtas Members and our party representatives across the island, I express our gratitude to the outgoing President, Mary McAleese, for her 14 years of service as Uachtarán na hÉireann. This is her last day in office and it is fitting that we should mark the occasion with some words of thanks in the Dáil.

Mary McAleese will be remembered as a President who made a very significant, long-term and consistent contribution to the building of lasting peace and true reconciliation in Ireland. She came to office in 1997 when the peace process was at an early and very delicate stage. The Good Friday Agreement was yet to be negotiated. When that Agreement was reached it was followed by months and years of delay, doubt and, at times, despair. Many doubted that it could be made to work. However, through persistence and patience it did work. It has been implemented and huge advances have been made away from conflict and inequality and towards lasting peace and equality. Society in the Six Counties has been transformed and the whole island of Ireland has benefited.

If the peace process could be compared to a tapestry, one of the brightest threads running through it would be the role of President Mary McAleese and her husband Martin McAleese. They consistently championed the potential of a new dispensation on this island. They worked in a very special way for reconciliation between the diverse traditions in Ireland. They undoubtedly made a significant contribution to mutual understanding. They helped to make dialogue a reality, encouraging communities in the North to engage as never before.

Because she came from the North President McAleese brought an understanding and a personal commitment to the work of peace and national reconciliation. She was a President of the Irish nation, as defined in Article 2 of the Constitution which states: "It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and [territorial] seas, to be part of the Irish nation." During the presidential election there were some who lost sight of that article. For them, a permanent mist has descended on a part of our island and of our nation. There were some who continued to display the type of mindset that in 1997 called the then presidential candidate, Mary McAleese, a "sectarian time bomb".

The outgoing President and her husband proved them wrong a thousand times over in a presidency that encompassed all of our island and all of our people. President McAleese embraced the marginalised and those who were discriminated against. She learnt and used the Irish language while in office and she represented the nation abroad in an exemplary fashion.

Ar ár son uile, gabhaimid buíochas léi agus gabhaimíd gach rath ar obair an Uachtaráin nua, Micheál D. Ó hUigín.

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