Australia's bitter federal election campaign ground to a halt for a few hours yesterday as leaders of both parties put aside politics to celebrate the visit of the President, Mrs McAleese.
The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, said only an Irish President could still the guns of political battle and bring both sides together in an expression of affection for Ireland, felt by all Australians.
At a lunch in the Great Hall of Canberra's Parliament House, Mr Howard said Mrs McAleese came to Australia as "part of the family" to a welcome which would not be extended to any other head of state.
Mr Howard, the Liberal Party leader, who revealed the Irish background of his great-grandparents, also spoke of the Omagh massacre and the wish of many Australians to see a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. "We want it because we see it as a piece of unfinished, I suppose, family business. We also want it because it will be a source of hope and inspiration to the rest of the world," he said.
The President appeared tired after her gruelling schedule of more than 30 speeches on a whistle-stop tour across a continent 67 times the size of Ireland.
In reply she said there was now a real framework for peace. Following the Omagh outrage the differences between nationalist, unionist, Protestant and Catholic were transformed in an even greater way than they had been by the Belfast Agreement and the referendum.
"We realigned ourselves and after Omagh it was so evident we were a people now for whom the word Yes has transcended all those differences. I believe Omagh will in time be recognised as a real shrine for goodness and as a place we made a stand for Yes; a stand infinitely greater in fact than the day on which we ticked the box and said yes to the Good Friday Agreement."
Her speech reinforced one of the key messages of her visit about the Irish diaspora and the input of the Irish to Australia. She said Ireland would never know the contribution all the tens of the thousands of Irish emigrants might have made to their land if they hadn't been forced out by economic circumstances.
"We're deeply grateful their talent did not founder, that they found a new place in which to embed, in which to plant, and from their seed they grew this magnificent country".
The Labor Party opposition leader, Mr Kim Beazley, also interrupted his campaign schedule for the October 3rd poll. After the luncheon he said recent Irish presidents had been an inspiration to Australia. Both Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese had shown Australians, who will vote in a referendum next year on becoming a republic, what a president can achieve.
"I think the value of a person who can come to encapsulate the spirit of a nation is something which is very important to possess for a country. It's something we don't possess and it's a hole in our civic politics," he said.
One of the most famous Irishmen in Australia, Dr Brian Kennedy, the director of the National Gallery of Australia, said the President had touched a chord with the rhythm of her speeches and the way she lives her Irish culture and language. "The tone, as she has said, is one of throwing off victimhood and knowing we can hold ourselves high. We have a big role to play for a very small nation both in Europe and worldwide," he said.
Earlier, the President, who is staying in Government House with the Governor General, planted an Irish yew in the gardens next to one planted by President Patrick Hillery on his 1985 visit.