Mary McAleese, President of Ireland
Monday - Thursday, May 23 - 26, 2005
TUESDAY EVENTS The only completely public
event during the President’s visit was a foreign policy speech on Tuesday
evening at the University of Washington's Kane Hall to the Jackson School
of International Studies where over 700 people heard her lecture entitled
“Europe, Ireland, & the United States”. She said she deliberately put
Ireland in the middle of the title as she viewed Ireland as being a bridge
between Europe and the US. Speaking of the European Union's huge potential,
the President said: "Our future is linked to the future of half a billion
men and women from Estonia in the Baltic to Malta in the Mediterranean
and we are part of an extraordinary adventure in democratic partnership
that some might see as nothing short of miraculous." Following the lecture,
she met with a select group of 30 UW students for a Q&A session that
lasted over 30 minutes.
Below are photos taken at the Matt Talbot
Center on Wednesday, May 25
For all the details and
Photos from her visit, see below or go to
Monday, May 23, Events & Photos, and
Wednesday, May 25, Irish Community Reception & Photos.
MORE May 25 Irish Community Reception Photos.
TEXT OF THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH to the Irish Community Reception.
On Tuesday morning,
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels paid a courtesy call on the President to welcome
her to Seattle, and later that morning, the President toured the Matt Talbot
Center, a treatment program for the homeless named after the Dublin saint.
Center Director Gregg Alex described the counselling and other resources
provided for homeless people, and how the building itself contains
new purpose-built transitional housing for members who have made the necessary
commitment to get off the streets. He also explained the Center’s Irish
connection, with several Irish and Irish-American members on the Board
of Directors, and the strong support the Center receives from Seattle’s
Irish community. The President had coffee and visited with many of the
Center’s members and toured part of the facility. She was scheduled to
visit the Center for about 30 minutes but found it so interesting and inspirational
that she stayed over an hour. For more information on the Center, visit
www.matttalbotcenter.org.
MORE PHOTOS _______________________________________________________________________________
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