Dear members of the 1976 UCD Soccer Team, Dear friends,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all today. Since arriving in Ireland, I have read your journey many times, especially the photographs and stories you have carefully preserved. A group of young Irishmen, traveling without maps or phones and with little shared language, chose to travel halfway around the world with an open spirit. That courage and curiosity left a deep impression on me. Meeting you now feels less like a formal reception and more like a reunion of old friends.

Of everything I have read, the articles by the late Dr. Tony O’Neill resonate most deeply. To be frank, the China of 1976 was not an easy place to visit; we were a poor nation, and the gap between our reality and the rest of the world was vast. Yet, in Dr. O’Neill’s reporting for the Irish Press, I found not a trace of prejudice or judgment. What I found instead was curiosity, warmth, and a genuine delight in everything that was different and new. Such open-heartedness was admirable then, and in today’s world, it has become exceptionally rare.

Your record visit met with the threshold of an extraordinary chapter of China. Two years later, China started its reform and opening up and transformed the landscape on a scale rarely seen. Fields became cities, and doors opened where there had been walls. Hundreds of millions were lifted from absolute poverty, discovering new opportunities, new lives, and a more promising future. The video you just watched offers a glimpse of this evolution, and you are about to experience its reality firsthand.

The secret weapon behind these achievements has been, and remains, the Five-Year Plan. In 1976, China launched its fifth Plan; last month we adopted the fifteenth.I will leave the details of the plan to be discussed later, or leave you to experience it in China yourself. In short, the Plan reflects a nation that is not only growing fast, but also growing thoughtfully, prioritizing innovation, the well-being of its people, and global partnership.

China and Ireland did not establish diplomatic relations until three years after your visit. Today, the two countries enjoy a Strategic Partnership for Mutually Beneficial Cooperation. China is now Ireland’s sixth largest trading partner, with bilateral trade in goods and services exceeding 20 billion euros, and Chinese investment in Ireland reaching 12 billion. Following the Taoiseach’s visit earlier this year, academic cooperation has grown to over 150 university partnerships, and 8 pairs of local governments are formally twinned, with Kerry, Louth, and Galway all in active discussions. These are remarkable numbers. But as your story reminds us, the most enduring foundation of any relationship is found in the understanding that grows between people.

50 years on, China-Ireland relationship has evolved alongside you. That is why the journey you are about to take carries a meaning beyond sightseeing.

When you land in Beijing, don’t be surprised if the city feels at once familiar and completely new. The weight of history is still there, in the silence of the Forbidden City and in the ancient Temple of Heaven. But walk a little further, look a little wider, and you will see a metropolis that has remade itself with modern technology. Beijing views its history not as a burden, but as a foundation, a legacy that only adds to its magnificence.

In Shanghai, when you stand at the curve of the Bund and look across the river to Pudong, you will find one of the most dramatic skyline on earth. In 1976, the land on that far bank was largely farmland. And yet, in some historic neighborhoods, you can still catch glimpses of the past, like in the heart of the city, the gardens of Yuyuan remain exactly as they have always been: a place of stillness and poetic care. It is a reminder that in China, while we dream on a grand scale, we never forget to keep a garden at the center of it.

Your journey then turns west to Changsha, a city that may offer the most striking surprises of all. At Orange Isle, you will stand where Mao Zedong, as a young man of thirty-two, looked out over the horizon and wrote those famous lines: “Brooding over this immensity / I ask, on this boundless land / Who rules over man’s destiny?” In Shaoshan, Chairman Mao’s memorial offers a deeper reflection on his life and the profound sacrifices that laid the foundations of the nation.

But when night falls, Changsha reveals a different character and become one of China’s most beloved cities for a night out, full of warmth, noise, extraordinary food, and the kind of generous.

Of course, your itinerary holds far more than I can recount here. To detail every experience would take an entire day, so I shall leave the many fascinating differences between our two nations for you to discover yourselves.

But speaking of similarities, it is often said China and Ireland share much in common, from our shared history of national liberation, our common drive toward a modern future, to our enthusiasm for a good drink and a cold beer. But standing here with so many footballers, I can’t help but notice one specific similarity.

Since the summer of 2002, when we both last appeared on the World Cup final stage, China and Ireland have shown an incredible level of selfless and solidarity. Together, we have maintained a consistent policy for 24 years: gracefully allowing other teams to compete for the trophy while we watch from the sidelines.

While the recent qualification results were not what we had hoped for, but the story is not over. Both our countries have talented young players and are investing seriously in youth development. The hope is alive, and it will find its moment. What those young players need is the wisdom of those who have gone before them. Gentlemen, you know better than most what it takes to step into the unknown. That experience is not something that can be coached from a textbook.

When you first made the journey, you were young men driven by curiosity. Today, Many of you are grandfathers and have retired from your careers. There is a Chinese saying that at your age, a person's instincts and principles finally move as one. A lifetime of experience brings insights that young people cannot match. I have no doubt that this reunion journey will reveal things to you that were invisible the first time around.

I recently met MEP Barry Andrews, the son of your teammate David Andrews. When I mentioned your return, he recalled watching his father leave for a month to travel to the other side of the world when he was just nine. I share this because I think the most valuable thing you can bring back is not souvenirs, but stories. Share what you saw, what surprised you, what moved you, with your families, your neighbors, your communities. That is how understanding travels, through one person telling another what they found when they crossed the world with an open mind. You did it in 1976, and the ripples are still reaching us today. Do it again, and who knows how far they will travel this time.

Like a fine Irish whiskey or a classic Chinese spirit, friendship only grows more refined with time. May your glasses be full, your memories vivid, and this return be the finest chapter yet in a story that is still being written. Sláinte!