ÁRAS AN UACHTARAN was lit up in Dublin’s Phoenix Park last night, as President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina showcased a river of light across the grounds. 

Streaming from the light for the Irish diaspora on the first floor of the Áras, the river of light stretches out to “all the Irish people and all those who cannot be with their families for Christmas”. 

It comes as official government guidance advises against non-essential air journeys this Christmas season, as Ireland and the rest of the world still copes with the effects of Covid-19. 

In a special address to third-level students yesterday, President Higgins also acknowledged the “particularly challenging” year they’ve lived through. This was especially the case for first-year students who were unable to sit the Leaving Certificate earlier this year, he said. 

“Then, too, the experience of the first term will have been totally changed with the absence of the collective experience of learning,” the president said.

“In my own time, some of us even studied together; participating and speaking at societies, such as the debating societies, be it in English or Irish. They were for us as important as the lectures.

You, in your special circumstances created by Covid-19, are challenged more than others who have had to overcome the hurdle of the first term. I want you to know that, as President, I am aware of these challenges and that you are much valued by those who care for you.

He paid tribute to staff and management at third-level institutions for their support of students this year, and acknowledged the “momentous transition” they had to make at very short notice. 

President Higgins added: “To students, and particularly first-year students, may I say I will be thinking of you now, and after the Christmas Break and in the New Year. I pay tribute to you all for the special effort you have been asked to make.

Do please encourage and watch out for each other now and beyond Covid-19. I hope, too, that the efforts weak or strong that you have been making and will continue to make means that beyond Covid-19 you will have an educational and social experience all the richer in the future.

May I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.