Dear Friends,
I want to thank you for your very kind message of support.I have been privileged to serve my community, my party and our country for many years in public life. In that period, I hope that I have made a contribution to an unrivalled era of peace, prosperity and progress on this island.My motivation for entering politics 31 years ago was to represent the people of my constituency. In 1994, I was elected Leader of my party and three years later, I was humbled to have been entrusted with the great responsibility of leading our nation. For over a decade now, my greatest desire was to repay the trust invested in me by working hard to secure the peace and the prosperity we now enjoy.As I said recently, I believe that Irish people are innately decent and I have been privileged to have served them and to enjoy tremendous support.Over the past few days, I have received so many messages of goodwill such as yours. I truly appreciate your kindness and I have taken great encouragement and solace from it.
T.D.Taoiseach.