President Michael D Higgins has paid tribute to the women of Ireland - and warned that the equality of today "had to be won".
In an interview with The Ryan Tubridy Show, President Higgins said that women of his wife's Sabina's generation have the advantage of being able to contrast the present with the past.
As a measure of just how much things have changed, he pointed out that when the couple married in 1974, Sabina had to resign from her position.
"It’s important to emphasise, very strongly, that none of these rights fell from the sky. Everything had to be won, and campaigns had to be won," President Higgins said.
Ahead of former President McAleese branding the Church "an empire of misogyny" this week, President Higgins praised her "outstanding contribution" while in office at the Áras.
Referring to Ms McAleese's recent Vatican ban, President Higgins said he was deeply concerned and upset at her recent exclusion.
The President told Ryan that society benefits as a whole from the contribution of women. "It's just a healthier society when you have equality of participation. We're not fully there yet I think in terms of the gap...in income, the gaps in relation to pensions."
He also said society will have to accept a redefinition of 'work' in the years ahead - one that recognises tasks that are vital but not sufficiently recognised or rewarded.
On the #MeToo movement, President Higgins told Ryan he believed we are "a very, very long way from adequately addressing issues of hierarchy, issues of patriarchy in society". He said that the very centre of this is an abuse of power and he hoped that its consequences will flow in to examining how abuses of power are exercised in all situations.
"The people have been very good to Sabina and I, they have been kind, and they have been courteous."
President Higgins also talked about the importance of using new technology to assist school children. He spoke of his concerns about technology and science - and his fear that lives can be destroyed, including very tragic cases where some people have committed suicide as a result of online abuse.The President said it was "nonsense" that those who provide the capacity for this were able to shirk responsibility.
"The idea that you can send a message without any consequence, without taking responsibility for how it falls on the life or perceptions of another is absolutely a real challenge," he said.
Reflecting on his time in the Dáil and Seanad, President Higgins said he had read far more in the last five years than he had in the previous 10 years.
He said: "To be quite direct, I enjoy the people...the people have been very good to Sabina and I, they have been kind, and they have been courteous."
Then Ryan asked the question everyone currently wants to know the answer to - will he run for a second term? His reply: "The summer will decide that. I am getting a lot of letters and people are asking me what is to happen. My term ends in November and by summer I think everyone will know where we stand.
"By the summer, I will have replied not only to the letters, but people will know. I needed time to think; I am thinking and reflecting on what people are saying to me."
Finally, Ryan asked how the President switches off or allows himself some down time when he's not working. He said that while it had got harder to relax, he manages to switch off completely when enjoying sporting events.
You can listen to the whole interview from The Ryan Tubridy Show here:
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