Speech at a Garden Party to celebrate Sustainable Communities
Áras an Uachtaráin, 29 June 2018
Tá áthas orm féin agus ar Saidhbhín fáilte a fhearadh róimh go hÁras an Uachtaráin tráthnóna. Tá súil agam go bhfuil sibh ag baint taitnimh as bhur gcuairt ar an teach agus na gairdíní.
[Sabina and I are delighted to welcome you all to Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon. I hope you are all enjoying your visit to the house and gardens].
The garden party season is a special time of the year here in the Áras. Sabina and I welcome this opportunity to meet members of communities and those activists who are building communities across Ireland. We are delighted to acknowledge their work and to hear from them as we invite them to enjoy for a while the house and the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin.
The theme of today’s garden party is ‘Sustainable Communities’ and celebrates the many people who contribute so profoundly to the lives of their communities, creating and sustaining places of belonging, of care and of shared interests and experience.
Creating societies that are ethical and inclusive is a task for all of our citizens, of all ages and circumstances. However, inclusive and ethical societies can only grow from communities that are ethical in their structure and practice; communities that work together, in solidarity, that recognise the needs of all their members including, in particular, those who are vulnerable and marginalized.
It has become one of the great ironies of modern life that someone residing on the other side of the world is contactable by the click of a button, yet an increasing number of people no longer know their neighbours and the people with whom they share a community.
There can be no doubt that society has changed significantly in recent decades. Geographic mobility and enforced long commutes have become a way of life for much of our working population. A long hours culture has become the norm in many workplaces. Indeed the workplace has dissolved into the whole of life. Pressure on housing has seen many buyers obliged to move to areas far away from their places of employment, and the workplace travels with them.
All across Ireland we have people who, through generations, have contributed to their communities. However, we have also seen the many small decisions, the short term thinking, that has added up across the years to the attrition of services in rural communities.
Some rural towns have become sleeper communities, as 71% of all jobs associated with new foreign direct investment are concentrated where existing clusters are located. Rural depopulation has contributed to the loss of services such as post offices, shops, banks, pubs and restaurants and health services.
This pattern of rural depletion has led to urban strain, where the benefits of the city, in terms of agglomeration, accessibility and economic clustering, are being outweighed by all too-often inadequately planned urban growth congestion, spiralling costs and under provision of housing, all contributing to social fragmentation.
Such changes have presented considerable obstacles to the building or sustaining of the community life which has always been such an enriching element of Irish society.
The proliferation of new technology, which brings with it so many advantages, has also led to increasing numbers of citizens becoming isolated from the day to day life of their communities.
The normal social interactions that may have been once taken for granted have been, in many cases, replaced by technical transactions which require little or no human contact or involvement with other members of the community. Many of the transactions of daily life have also become increasingly reliant on social technology rather than face to face engagement, further segregating themselves from the lives of their communities.
The elimination of face to face contact in the provision of services in the name of cost saving and efficiency is a dangerous form of short term thinking. All of the philanthropic gestures in the world, the slickest P.R. cannot hide the fact that many commercial services have turned their back on communities that for generations gave them profits.
Community, however, remains an essential component of human life and the character of a place, its identity, and the sense of belonging and rootedness with which it provides its members are founded on the human interactions which lies at its heart. It is critical the we continue to work to build and maintain that strong sense of community which has also been such an essential part of our Irishness and which continues to offer so much potential for the flourishing and fulfilment of our citizens.
It is a great pleasure, therefore, to have the opportunity to welcome here today so many of you who undertake that work with generosity and a true commitment to shaping communities which are inclusive and welcoming to all their members.
The wide range and spread of organisations that you represent is greatly impressive and an inspiring demonstration of the generosity, social conscience and willingness to engage and participate that exists amongst our citizens. Your involvement and commitment to others includes all areas of community living–providing social contact and care for the elderly, helping those who are vulnerable, working to combat discrimination and racism, enabling young people to flourish and reach their potential, protecting the environment, contributing to our cultural and sporting life, making your neighbourhoods safer and more pleasant places in which to live, and striving in so many other areas to create communities which offer their residents a shared sense of belonging.
It is within our communities and throughout the discourse they hear, as well as formal education, that our young people are first exposed to the concept of citizenship. We have to consider how we engage with each other, how we speak to each other, how we listen, or don’t listen. At times the pursuit of what is felt to be efficiency comes across as a rather thinly veiled coldness or disconnect with what is, after all, our human interactions. That early experience of community life, of inhabiting, in conditions of change, a space that is shared with others, is a critical factor in shaping the future citizen they will become. It is so important that communities promote a sense of solidarity and cohesion amongst its members, identifying what is necessary to be achieved, and confronting and challenging obstacles to equality.
One of the most enjoyable experiences as President of Ireland is having the opportunity to witness and share in very many community events across the country, and to be able to hear the advocacy that is under way. These community occasions may be diverse in nature but they are always uplifting occasions, celebratory occasions, and a reminder of the power of genuine solidarity to transform, re-imagine, restore and renew.
The community response with its offer of assistance and solidarity to other citizens has often surprised many as it has provided opportunities and possibilities that would once have seemed unattainable.
I have witnessed, time and again, the genuine communal pride when Tidy Town awards are achieved. I have seen the intergenerational turnout for a school which is celebrating a significant anniversary. I have seen derelict spaces re-imagined into places where residents can gather together to socialise and learn new skills.
I have seen so many examples of care and compassion as members of a community come together to fund raise, to look after their elderly and sick and to lobby for much needed facilities for their children, or for their vulnerable and marginalised members.
At the heart of all this activity lies an acknowledgement of the importance of the public space, the public world, and a citizen awareness that brings with it, not only a sense of belonging, but a sense of responsibility for those with whom we share that public space.
We must remember, of course, that we are also citizens of a wider global community. In 2015 the international community set out a clear and widely agreed road map, detailing what it takes to meet our global challenges head on. We collectively agreed to do all we can to attain 17 goals for a better world. By the year 2030 we must have achieved these Sustainable Development Goals. We have a historic opportunity, and indeed duty, to lay the foundations of a new model for human flourishing and social harmony.
As members of that global community let us all commit to playing our role, in working together to ensure that future generations will inhabit a more just and equitable society.
May I thank you all, therefore, for the profound and valuable contribution you make to your communities and to our society. The work you do demonstrates the spirit of active participation that animates our communities and the lives of those with whom we share that communal space.
Mar sin, tig linn saol an phobail a cheiliúradh inniu, agus is mian liom arís eile, comhghairdeas a dhéanamh agus moladh a thabhairt daoibh go léir as na hiarrachtaí a dhéanann sibh go fial mar shaoránaigh, leis an pobal agus an teaghlach a choinneáil i gcroílár ár sochaí.
[So today, let us celebrate community life and may I, once again, congratulate and commend all of you for the efforts you generously and unstintingly are putting into your role as citizens, for working so hard to keep community and family at the heart of our society].
Before I conclude, I would also like to thank our superb MC this afternoon Blaithnaid Ní Chofaigh.
May I also thank our entertainers this afternoon: Mary Kelly, the Ballingeary Pipe Band, Colm and Ruairí Ó hArgáin and Eadaoin Ní Mhaicín, Mark Redmond, Rebecca and Cartíona Atkinson, the People’s College Choir, John Conneely and The Swing Cats.
I also thank Dee Rogers, and his crew for the superb sound he has made possible in facilitating our performers and musicians.
Thank you to our friends in St John of God’s, the Gardaí and our Civil Defence colleagues, the tour guides and all who have worked so hard to make today such a joyful and happy occasion for us all.
May I say a special thank you to my staff here at the Áras for your hard work and good humour – and special thanks to OPW and our wonderful household team, not only for their wonderful treats, but for their kindness and ever cheerful disposition too; all things which contribute in no small part to making this garden party a very special event for you.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
