Drumconrath"s delight as President comes calling

There was great excitement in Drumconrath on Friday morning when President Mary McAleese visited the local St Peter and Paul"s National School as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations. The schoolchildren had their Irish flags at the ready as they waited in anticipation for the President"s car to pull up outside the school - and there was a great cheer when the President"s car finally arrived. President McAleese was greeted by principal Sean Egan in addition to sixth class pupil Aine Martin and Junior Infants pupil Danny Duff, representing the oldest and youngest pupils of the school, respectively. President McAleese planted a tree in the school grounds and then posed with the assembled children for a photo. The group moved into the school hall where Mrs McAleese was welcomed by the Presidential Salute, played on tin whistle by the children under the guidance of teacher Eithne Martin. Mr Egan welcomed President McAleese and said that 6th March 2009 would forever be remembered in Drumconrath as the day an Irish President visited the school and spent time with them. He said the school is 40 years-old this year and that pupils past and present are very proud of their school and their village of Drumconrath. Mr Egan said President McAleese had made community and developing community a central theme for the last years of her presidency and this was where they got the idea to invite President McAleese to the school. He said that all things come from small beginnings and that this is the message they are constantly passing on to the pupils and that even though they are from a small village and small community, the sky is the limit. 'Community spirit is alive and well in Drumconrath and the positive effect of your visit will last long after you have left,' Mr Egan said. The children then entertained President McAleese with 'Twinkle, Twinkle" and 'Mo Ghile Mear" on tin whistle and accomplished Irish dancer Michelle O"Malley performed before the children all sang 'Trasna na dTonnta". Mrs McAleese thanked the children for inviting her to their '40th birthday' and commented that they all looked very young for 40! She praised the children for all the efforts they had made with their art and rehearsing their songs and music. 'You had to work hard to get the songs and music to sound that good. On the first day, it didn"t sound like that, did it? I"d say only your mammies could have listened to you at first. But, like school, the more you work the better you get,' President McAleese told her audience. She added that she had heard a rumour that the boys and girls in the school were the 'absolute best', that the 'teachers are the absolute best', and that the mammies and daddies are incredible, which was greeted with great cheering. But the biggest cheer was reserved for when President McAleese asked Mr Egan to let the children off homework that evening. President McAleese also gave a special mention to Niamh and Sinead Byrne who celebrated their eighth birthday on Friday and she led the group as they sang happy birthday to the girls. Fr Finian Connaughton said he was delighted that President McAleese had come to visit their school and make 6th March 2009 an historic say in the annals of Drumconrath. Fr Connaughton recalled that he had only been a short time in the parish when there was a terrible car accident where a mother and young children died and that President McAleese had written a letter that meant a lot and that her words were not 'of a distant Government official but of a mother who had children of her own'. He said President McAleese"s words had been 'consoling and uplifting'. Fr Connaughton also said that President McAleese had brought the Presidency to the people of Ireland in a way that he had never remembered being done before. Pupil Alice Carolan presented a picture crafted by the children of fourth, fifth and sixth classes to President McAleese before her departure for Navan, where she also had a further engagement.