Remarks at the Foróige 60th Anniversary Conference
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, Dublin, 24th March 2012
A Chairde go léir, Ladies & Gentlemen,
I am glad to have this opportunity to be here with you this morning to celebrate the 60thAnniversary of Foróige. Is ócáid an-speisialta í seo a thugann deis dúinn gach atá bainte amach go dtí seo a chéiliúradh chomh maith le féachaint ar fhís a d’fhéadfaí a chruthú don todhchaí.
My thanks to Foróige’s National Director, Mr. Seán Campbell, for inviting me to share in this celebration of 60 years working with and for young people in Ireland. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and the National Chairperson, Ms. Mairí Mc Mahon for your work and commitment to all the young people involved with Foróige.
It is through the provision of a comprehensive range of youth work services, Foróige clubs, Local Youth Services and Local Youth Development Projects that Foróige strives to meet the developmental needs of our young people – over 56,000 nationwide - empowering, encouraging each to develop and hone their abilities and attributes in those hugely important formative years of adolescence.
It is undeniably true that one of the greatest gifts we can pass on to our children is curiosity. To quote Harlow H. Curtice (President of GM – 1954) “the inquiring mind is never satisfied with things as they are. It is always seeking ways to make things better and to do things better. It assumes that everything and anything can be improved.” So much of what Foróige does nurtures the curious mind, prepares it for adult life, and also provides young people with valuable skill sets to meet challenges. The range of services and opportunities you provide are hugely impressive by any standard including a number of firsts; the first organisation to provide general youth work services in disadvantaged areas; for example, working with An Garda Siochána to roll out one of the first Garda Youth Diversion Projects; Drug and Alcohol Prevention Projects; bringing the internationally proven one to one mentoring programme ‘Big Brothers, Big Sisters’ to Ireland (A NUI Galway study found that ‘BBBS’ is “an extremely valuable, low-cost intervention for young people who need support”); Youth Entrepreneurship Programme; Leadership Programme; first Intel Computer Clubhouse; first youth café; – so many good news stories.
In electing young people to the National Council of Foróige, it is further testimony to your commitment to empowering our young people, providing them with a forum to communicate their needs and ideas, encouraging their participation in shaping their futures, encouraging them to become good citizens, inspirational leaders and mindful mentors.
Your work in developing young people’s skills as citizens is building our democracy: I have said before that knowledge of the map of power, of the location of decision-making that affects one’s life, is one of the most basic tools for participation in any meaningful version of democracy.
From those early days in 1952 as Macra na Tuaithe, Foróige has grown to be the very successful national youth organisation it is today, now with more than 530 clubs nationwide. The name Foróige is derived from “forbairt na hóige”, meaning “development of youth”, something your organisation has honoured and remained true to over the years. Foróige recognises that human development is very much about creating an environment conducive to young people unlocking their full potential; leading productive, creative lives; fulfilling their needs. With the backing of the then Department of Education and Macra na Feirme, the organisation recognised the need to empower local communities to take charge of their own affairs, plan their own programmes and run their own clubs.
I am aware, that in response to changing demands in Ireland during the 1970’s, Foróige evolved into an organisation whose work now largely centres on an urban youth population. By doing so it had responded creatively and with vision and foresight, aligning its efforts to these changing demands. I referred earlier to the more than 56,000 young people your organisation reached last year.
That figure alone is something from which you can rightfully derive pride. But equally so is that this success is only possible from the many volunteers – several thousands of them - ordinary people across the country who give of their time and energy and talents to serve their communities. Is iontach an obair sin.
I am told that we have some special guests with us today, each one representing a different decade of Foróige over the last sixty years - Tom Connery from Wexford representing the 1950’s, Tom Cunningham from Cork the 1960’s, Mayo woman Margaret Henry the 1970’s, Ger Deere also as Maigheo the 1980’s, Cian Egan from Westlife (via video link) representing the 1990’s, Sinéad Ward from Roscommon representing the first decade of the 21st century and Maeve Treacy from Galway representing Foróige today. You are part of the great volunteering community, volunteering tradition of this country which has served Foróige and so many other organisations so very well in the past and continues to do so today.
In my inaugural speech, I spoke of the importance of active citizenship and I believe that the value of volunteerism in any community should be recognised for the life enhancing good it does in just about every corner of our island. We know we have a great challenge facing us to rebuild our country, to restore confidence in institutions, to restore our young people’s confidence that they have a viable future in Ireland, but it will happen, it will come.
What has remained robust through the years has been that great spirit of volunteerism, those individuals who year in, year out go to great efforts in the cause of others, doing so quietly, not seeking recognition or reward but richly deserving of both. That great effort of volunteerism in Ireland should be nurtured and applauded at every opportunity.
It is through efforts of adult volunteers and youth workers that youth work flourishes. We cannot continue to develop as a society unless we invite and encourage our young citizens to participate in youth work alongside those of us with greater experience. The fair and just society we aspire to will only be achieved if the next generation of decision makers, the next generation of leaders - our young people - relate to and fully participate in their immediate communities and wider society. Ní neart go chur le chéile mar a deirtear, we are strongest when we work together, when we harness the talent of all our citizens.
The work of Foróige, and indeed all youth organisations, revolves around the concept of non-formal education and by this we mean equipping young people with the social and personal skills to become viable, active citizens within their communities and the wider society. The best youth work is about the holistic wellbeing of young people: only with a strong sense of belonging, of being valued and of knowing that people will listen, will young people value themselves and find their own distinctive niche in society.
I am reminded of the words of Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese philosopher-poet who said of educators (and parents) “you are the bows from which children as living arrows are sent forth.”
A natural progression from, and complementary to, the family and school environment, is involvement and participation in youth clubs and organisations, where traits and qualities such as leadership and team-working, as well as life skills, independent thinking and taking responsibility are nurtured and developed further. Interaction with adult leaders and volunteers and their peers through group activities can also foster an ‘esprit de corps’ or a solidarity and belonging among the group members. In this regard my own involvement with Gaisce – The President’s Award and the success it has enjoyed more than a quarter of a century in encouraging young people to participate in the Awards scheme is heartening and I would encourage all young people who are not aware of the programme to consider it.
We are now living in unprecedented times as we face into an uncertain future. We, as a nation, must continue to address these problems as Foróige has done over their 60 years, with resilience and persistence. The need to support and guide young people to cope with the challenges they face is now even greater and it is incumbent on each and every one of us to work together in delivering positive outcomes. We adults should never underestimate the importance of being an available, encouraging leader in a young person’s life.
Recent research from Headstrong amply demonstrates that the presence of a positive leader, combined with facilitating the young person to set and achieve goals, enables the best possible outcomes for our young people.
As you may know, during my term in Office I intend to host a number of Presidency Seminars. The first of these seminars will focus on being young and Irish, addressing issues identified by the young people themselves. I look forward with great expectation to engaging with the young people on the issues and I have no doubt that we will all be enriched and enlightened through these exchanges.
Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil libh arís as an dea-obair atá curtha i gcrích agaibh le 60 bliain anuas agus gach rath a ghuí oraibh agus ar an eagraíocht éachtach seo sna blianta atá romhainn.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.