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St. Patrick's Day, 17th March is Ireland's national holiday and is celebrated with events and parades worldwide. Here you can join in the fun and find out all about Saint Patrick, the Irish people and Saint Patricks day
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ST PATRICK'S DAY GREETINGS FROM PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE
St Patrick’s Day Greetings from President McAleese
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ar chlann mhór dhomhanda na nGael, sa bhaile agus
ar fud na cruinne, ar an lá náisiúnta ceiliúrtha seo.
Warmest St Patrick’s Day Greetings to everyone taking part in this happy
festival celebration, in Ireland and around the world. This is our time for
showcasing the spirit of the Irish through our wonderful culture and heritage,
our gift for friendship and our love of life. We will gather in both the most
obvious and the most obscure of places under the patronage of St. Patrick, a
man, an immigrant to Ireland whose life was one of outrageous hardship and
outstanding endurance. The chances are that wherever the Irish, and their
neighbours and friends gather this St. Patrick’s Day they will be making a very
determined effort to find joy in adversity and a moment of distraction from
serious economic and financial worries that face our country and our world.
St Patrick’s own personal story is one of facing into huge difficulties and
hardships, not of his own making. His coping skills were sorely tested. In the
Deer’s Cry, the beautiful poem attributed to him he says, “I arise today,
through a mighty strength”. We have our own mighty strength, in the goodness,
decency and hard work of so many individuals, in our uniquely strong and robust
sense of community, in our history of overcoming hardship, our culture of
welcome, our investment in peace and in our ability on St. Patrick’s Day to be
family to one another from Beijing to Bahrain and from Belfast to Bantry. We
know that our patron saint would encourage us to work with each other, for each
other and work through these difficulties to a better future for everyone.
Behind every St. Patrick’s Day gathering wherever it is in the world there is a
story of men and women who came together to celebrate being Irish, whether by
birth or by association. They are part of a generations old tradition of
volunteering help to one another, and of being community to one another. I thank
all of them for the many ways in which they bring such noble and life-enhancing
qualities into our world
and for the fun, enjoyment and happy memories they help create for us through
St. Patrick’s Day 2009.
To each and every one of you, I wish a wonderful St. Patrick’s festival. Enjoy
every moment of it and may the spirit of St Patrick be with you and your
families on this day and every day. May that mighty strength be yours as it was
his.
MARY McALEESE
PRESIDENT OF IRELAND
MARCH, 2009
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