"Dia Dhíbh, a cháirde go léir. Tá mé iontach sásta bheith anseo libh inniu"
President Mary McAleese was greeted with a rapturous round of applause when she visited the Irish World heritage Centre on Saturday the 29th of January. Opening her speech in Gaelic she spoke of how happy she was to return to the Irish World Heritage Centre and to have "the opportunity to see some familiar faces and many new ones."
She spoke of the seventeen different groups based at the Centre “who share a love of all things Irish from dancing to drama, poetry to pipe bands and language to literature.” The President was particularly happy to meet Irish Community Care volunteers who were there on the day.
In attendance at the Irish World Heritage Centre on Saturday were representatives and affiliates of the Federation of Irish Societies throughout Britain. Commending the work done by the Federation, the President spoke of how the organisation “plays a vital role in drawing together Irish clubs and societies from all over the country, sharing the knowledge and expertise that will make your groups even stronger. The growth and development within the Federation and in the number and type of members it now holds proves the other old Irish saying 'ní neart go chur le chéile' - there's strength in working together.”
This was also an important opportunity for the President to meet with Mr Joe Roche, representative of the National Board of the Ancient Order of Hibernian's in America. Mr Roche also met with Brenda Fleming, representative of the Safe Home program in Ireland, with a view to establishing a program to help elderly Irish people returning from America to Ireland.
This visit to the Irish World Heritage Centre was a unique opportunity for President McAleese to meet representatives from the Democratic League clubs of Lancashire and Yorkshire, which were established in the 1880's by Michael Davit.
The president also spoke of the exciting plans for the new Irish World Heritage Centre and commended the committee and the Irish Diaspora Foundation for undertaking this immense project with such passion and energy and to wish them "Ádh Mór"
The president was also delighted to meet the staff of the Irish World Heritage who work so hard to make this social enterprise a success for the Irish community in Greater Manchester.
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