A letter from the President

As she celebrated her landmark birthday, Bray woman Nancy O’Brien was delighted to receive the following message from the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins:

‘It gives me great pleasure to write to you to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of your birth on 28 September, 2020.

May I take this opportunity to join with your family and friends in congratulating you on this most joyous and significant occasion.

Throughout this past century you have witnessed remarkable changes to all aspects of our lives.

In many ways, the world we inhabit today would have been unimaginable on the day of your birth.

In so many other ways, however, the human condition remains the same and we continue with similar preoccupations, ambitions, worries, challenges and joys as those shared by countless generations before us.

Yet it is the gift of our lives to try and make it better – níos fear.

You have played your own important part in shaping and crafting the world we inhabit today, bringing your own energy, experience and wisdom to your work, family and community life.

As President of Ireland, I congratulate and thank you for that important contribution.

As you celebrate this milestone birthday I hope you will be surrounded by the warmth of happy memories and secure in the knowledge that you continue to make this world a better place for all who love you.’