President's message: President Mary McAleese said Ireland today was vibrant, cosmopolitan and filled with energy, and our international relations were playing an important part in our maturing as a nation.
The President, in her St Patrick's Day message, said it was a day of celebration in Ireland and for the global Irish family.
Over many decades, the people of Ireland, resolute in their belief in freedom, democracy, human rights and the pursuit of truth, justice and peace, had worked to create the successful Ireland of today. They could all bear witness to the arduous trials of our predecessors.
Yet, through it, and perhaps because of it, there was a new confidence and sense of direction; our collective aim to create a better Ireland and a better life for our children and our children's children.
Mrs McAleese said many years of hard work had gone into our economic development, which had blossomed in recent years.
"We have created a society in which the traditional welcome for the stranger is extended to people from many countries, whose endeavours have contributed hugely to our economy and to enriching our cultural diversity."
New communities were being built, transforming inhabitants into neighbours and neighbours into friends.
"Our national emblem, the shamrock, itself teaches us to honour unity in diversity even as it celebrates diversity in unity.
"Our country today is vibrant, cosmopolitan and filled with energy, and with our own distinctive national character, and our international relations are playing an important part in our maturing as a nation and deepening our understanding of our place in the world."
The world was ever-changing, and everyone accepted that there was a need to change. Greater understanding of our fellow members of the EU, and of the wider world, was a central part of meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities which lay ahead.
"I am confident that the strength of Ireland's culture and values will stand to us in the future," she concluded.
To Irish people and friends throughout the world, she said she would use the words of St Patrick himself: A blessing on their peaks, On their bare flagstones, A blessing on their glens, A blessing on their ridges.
"I wish all of you a very happy and peaceful St Patrick's Day."