Kilmessan kids enjoy special day at Aras

Prince Albert of Monaco may have begun a special trip to his mother's homeland on Monday, but it was an equally special visit for pupils of Kilmessan National School, who were invited to Aras an Uachtarain on Monday to welcome the prince and his fiancée, South African Olympic swimmer, Charlene Wittstock, to Ireland. Fifth and sixth classes of St Joseph's National School were invited to the Phoenix Park for the ceremony thanks to sixth class pupil Molly McWeeney (12), who wrote a letter to the President two years ago, and another this year, asking to visit the Aras. A busy schedule for the President meant it wasn't possible to have the children visit, until a call came to the school asking Molly and her classmates to the welcoming ceremony for the son of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, the former film star Grace Kelly. Molly described the whole event as "very exciting" on Monday. Since that call a few weeks ago, the pupils have been brushing up on their knowledge of the President and the Monaco royals, and learned all about film star Kelly's connections with Ireland. Prince Albert is marking the 50th anniversary of his parents' first visit to Ireland in January 1961. The Kilmessan pupils lined up outside the Aras and welcomed Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the royal couple, before Albert received a 21-gun salute and inspected a guard of honour made up of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. The President and the visitors chatted to the Kilmessan children, who were delightedly waving the Irish and Monaco flags, and wished Price Albert a 'cead mile failte'. The children also were present as Prince Albert planted a three year-old Irish oak in the grounds of the Aras. Later, the children, who were accompanied by principal Brian Mullins, deputy principal Anne Flynn and class teacher, Michelle McKeown, went inside Aras an Uachtarain, where they chatted with President McAleese and her husband, Martin. Molly McWeeney presented the President, who is stepping down this year, with a specially bound copy of the Kilmessan Dunsany parish millennium memoir 'On the Banks of the Skane', as a memento of the visit.