The following is the full text of the statement made yesterday by the President of Ireland, Mrs Mary McAleese.
Dia dhíbh go léir. Is ocáid an-speisialta é seo dom féin agus do mo fhear chéile, Martin. Tá áthas orm dul i sheirbhís muintir na hÉireann do na seacht blian atá romhainn.
I am delighted to have been elected to serve the people of Ireland as their President for the next seven years. I was preparing for a contested election and indeed for the launch of an election campaign but I am very grateful to all those whose faith and trust in me has resulted in my being elected, unopposed.
My thanks to the returning officer Maurice Coughlan for the excellent manner in which he has carried out his duties, to the nominations committee, to my election team headed by Pat Farrell, to the wide spectrum of political parties, elected representatives, groups, organisations and individuals who supported my candidacy and to my family and friends for their unstinting affirmation.
Seven years ago I set out to be a president for all the people and a bridge builder, a role I intend to continue and to develop to its fullest potential in the years ahead. The pace of change in our country in recent years has been intense and it confronts us now with testing challenges.
Not so long ago ours was an underachieving culture of tired resignation. Today it is a successful culture of energetic motivation which I am proud to proclaim throughout the world and to encourage at home. It is wonderful to be able to tell of an end to emigration and high unemployment, of our highly educated population in the forefront of the technological revolution, to watch the peace process grow, to see Ireland take her distinguished place among the 25 nations of the European Union and play her full part on the world stage.
On the other side of the equation though there are still those whose lives are stuck in disadvantage, their true potential lost to themselves and to all of us. Our busy and now multicultural population is pushing out the boundaries of cities, towns and villages, establishing new neighbourhoods of strangers which need to become communities, to build up the human infrastructure of mutual care which adds quality and meaning to life. The violence of the Troubles is fading but a solid base of trust and friendship has yet to be completed. We have an enlarged European Union to get to know and to get the best from, and Ireland has its unique contribution to make to the complex sphere of international affairs.
We have our work cut out for us. Government has its job to do and we as citizens have ours. No government can of itself create community or make us good citizens. That is the work of our hands and much of the generous civic imagination that is making life better for our people is already coming from within communities. An especially important task for me in the coming years will be to encourage those who are building and transforming community.
Only strong communities working in joined-up partnership with the voluntary, State, business and professional sectors have the resilience, the reservoir of civic responsibility, to deal effectively with the catalogue of issues in front of us - from youth suicide and irresponsible alcohol consumption to the trust deficit and cynicism arising from institutional breakdown, from criminality to racism, from illiteracy and homelessness to sharing the burden of carers. The same is true of the global problems we face - conflict, terrorism, hunger, AIDS, abuse of human rights, they are best faced down together. I intend to maintain an avid interest in how we grapple with these national and international issues and to continue to make my contribution where it is appropriate and helpful.
We have transformed our economic landscape beyond recognition. Now our challenge is to use those same talents to transform community, to shape the evolution of our society so that it honours the values which have always underpinned our country. The Proclamation of 1916 still says it best when it exhorts us to create an Ireland in which all the children of the nation are treated equally. I will be proud indeed to be President of that evolving, transforming Ireland.