Ireland looked forward to the enlargement of the European Union, the President, Mrs McAleese, said here yesterday after talks with President Jorge Sampaio at the start of her three-day state visit to Portugal.
Apart from the 45 minutes of discussions, when the President was accompanied by the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, it was a day of ceremony.
In the morning, nearly 100 Presidential Guardsmen, on horseback and in ceremonial dress, escorted Mrs McAleese along the banks of the River Tagus to the official welcome by President Sampaio. The day ended with a state dinner at the Ajuda Palace.
The limousine carrying the President and Dr Martin McAleese was met by the cavalry at the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and escorted to the President's official residence, the nearby Palacio de Belem.
The drawn swords of the mounted troopers glinted in the bright sunlight and the horsehair on the helmets swayed in the breeze.
At the Palacio de Belem, the two national anthems were played and Mrs McAleese inspected a guard of honour drawn from the cavalry.
After private discussions, the two presidents met the press. President Sampaio said discussions centred on bilateral relations and the workings of the EU.
He and Mrs McAleese had put a strong emphasis on the fundamental principle of the importance of equality between states, he said.
President Sampaio congratulated Ireland on the result of the Nice Treaty referendum, which was extremely important to the EU as a whole, he added.
Mrs McAleese spoke of the opportunity for growth in bilateral relations and of Portugal's influence on peace in East Timor and Angola.
"We discussed the future of Europe and we look forward to being part of enlargement.
"It will bring back into the heart of Europe many of our brothers and sisters who have been estranged for historical reasons. We are a very privileged but also a very challenged generation that will chart the future of Europe."
After lunch at the palace attended only by the two Presidents and their spouses, Mrs McAleese laid a wreath at the tomb of the national poet, Luis Vaz de Camões.
Schoolchildren from the Convento do Bom Successo, long a home to Irish Dominican nuns, waved tricolours and chanted "Ireland, Ireland".
Mrs McAleese later visited the National Assembly.