There was an air of excitement around the Phoenix Park yesterday as 100 guests lined up to meet the man who has called the Áras home for the last 14 years.
Some of the members of public in attendance had simply written to President Michael D Higgins asking if they could attend the final afternoon tea hosted by him and his wife Sabina. They, along with representatives from various organisations, enjoyed the finely cut sandwiches and even finer china throughout the afternoon.
One person “delighted” to be there was Óisin Large, from Wicklow. For the 27-year-old poet who wrote A Lament for Palestine, it was a “surreal” and “pinch me moment” to be welcomed into the Áras.
Mr Large, who now lives in Berlin and works as an event manager for a cultural centre, wrote the poem over several months and it was later published in the Wicklow Times.
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“The next thing I knew was that I was listening back to a voicemail on my phone from the President. I honestly thought someone was playing a joke on me when I listened back to it. But then he called me again and I knew it was real. He phoned me during the summer inviting me to attend his final afternoon tea gathering, so I’ve been thinking about this for three months and I was so nervous walking in here today. I was blown away by the praise he gave me.”
Rosaleen McBride, a former chief executive chef who worked at the Áras when the late Patrick Hillery was president, also attended. Her niece, Aisling McBride, who now works as a household executive at Áras an Uachtaráin, admitted it was a “very proud day” for her, her aunt and family to meet President Higgins and Sabina.
A group of scientists from the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Galway who earlier this year helped discover a new planet were also among the guests, along with representatives of the Inniskillings Museum in Enniskillen and Siptu trade union.
In a speech, President Higgins said that as his term draws to a close, many events such as this over the past 14 years have been occasions to witness the “moral leadership and unstinting efforts” of so many people throughout the country working towards the creation of a just and equal world.
“Over the past 14 years I have been constantly reminded that in spite of all the challenges we face, there remains within the Irish people a profound and unyielding commitment to seeing beyond the self, to seeing the ‘other’ as friend, the principles of generosity, compassion, kindness, decency and care for one another.”
[ ‘Scholar, poet, punk’: How Michael D Higgins shaped the presidencyOpens in new window ]
He said Irish society must always remember that there remains a capacity to bring the will of the public in advocating and achieving a more harmonious existence together, a will that can triumph.
Adding that we live in a “perilous period of time when democracy itself is under threat, recent comments from certain powerful figures suggest as though war and conflict are inevitabilities, that war is the natural expression of the human condition”. He said such as belief is a “tragic distortion” and that war is not our “natural state as a species”.
He said “words matter”, and if we allow the “language of inevitability”, then we abandon the “possibilities of transformation, not just for ourselves but future generations. I think that we must always try to stay positive. There is hope.”
Behind the niceties of his final afternoon tea gathering and as the sun sets on his two presidential terms, there is a family who have been moving their belongings back home to Rahoon in Galway since midsummer.
“It’s been a lot of work and it continues. What the President is most concerned about is how Misneach, who turned five last Monday, will handle the move. He came here when he was just a few weeks old so he will be going to a whole new environment. It will be change for them all,” an official said.
A colourful painting titled Sunburst, which greeted attendees as they entered the Áras, will also be moving. It is set to hang in the University of Galway concourse.
President Higgins retains his position until November 10th, despite the country going to the polls on Friday to vote for the two candidates of Independent TD Catherine Connolly or former Fine Gael Minister Heather Humphreys.
