The staff of ChildFund Ireland recently had the pleasure of meeting President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina.  The couple hosted a garden party at their residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, to celebrate the achievements of the international development sector, and ChildFund were honoured to be among those invited.

It was a true celebration in every sense, with even the notoriously fickle Irish weather co-operating for the day!   Entertainment was provided in the form of live music from leading Irish artists, including the fabulous Wallis Bird, who clearly charmed not only the audience, but the President himself with her talent and endearing humility.  For his part, President Higgins was every bit as stately as one would imagine of a world leader.  Social justice has been at the forefront of his concerns throughout his political career and it came as no surprise to hear him speak insightfully and fluidly about challenges facing the sector, diverging from prepared notes in a way that few politicians would be able to.

The staff of ChildFund Ireland were all personally delighted at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and collectively it was great recognition of the largely unseen work that ChildFund does to improve the lives of those without power or prestige around the world.  However, we feel that this privilege really should be extended to you, our supporters, as it is you who make all that great work possible.  And so we invite you, in President Higgins’ words, to, “Give yourselves a round of applause, because I very much appreciate the work that you do.”