The President, Mrs McAleese, yesterday paid tribute to rural activists who were reshaping their communities.
Mrs McAleese, on a day of engagements in Co Donegal, said one of the best parts of her job was getting to see "the sheer magnitude" of what was being achieved through voluntary effort day in, day out around the country.She paid special tribute to the small community of Drimarone, a parish in the heart of the Blue Stack mountains near Donegal town.
She performed the official opening of the €1 million Blue Stack centre, a complex with facilities for community and leisure activity, job creation and education.
The President recalled that the community had recovered from the drain of unemployment, emigration and the closure of three national schools. They had given a lesson to the rest of the country in how to create their own opportunities. Mrs McAleese, who was accompanied by her husband, Martin, also formally opened the new Dolmen Heritage Centre in Portnoo, the Manorcunningham Community Resource Centre, and new premises for the tourism/activity centre of the Swilly Mulroy Co-op Society.
The couple also visited the Irish language school Gaelscoil na gCeithre Máistrí in Donegal town and the Donegal hospice in Letterkenny.