When I started out, people were afraid of parish priests. Now they're afraid of newspaper editors.

I think even the poorest people in the great country that is the United States should be entitled to basic health care.

Now it is time to turn to an older wisdom that, while respecting material comfort and security as a basic right of all, also recognises that many of the most valuable things in life cannot be measured.

I want to say a very sincere thank you for this welcome home - it is a wonderful welcome home. It is the place to where I return and where I will always return because it is of Galway that I am.

Every age, after all, must have its own aisling and dream of a better, kinder, happier, shared world.

I am delighted to be back home in Galway, the place I first came to as a 19-year-old in 1960. It's here where my heart is and will forever be.

I love our shared island, our shared Ireland and its core decency. I love it for its imagination and its celebration of the endless possibilities for our people.