REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE ALZHEIMER DAY CARE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE ALZHEIMER DAY CARE CENTRE, WATERFORD
Dia dhaíobh a cháirde. Tá lúcháir mhór orm bheith anseo libh inniu. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte a bhí caoin, cneasta agus croiúil.
This is a day of pride and achievement for all those who have worked so hard to create the Waterford Alzheimer Day Care Centre and I want to thank Sarah O’Callaghan for the kind invitation that allows me to share this day with each of you. I have been patron of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland for quite a few years now and the more I see of its remarkable work, the more impressed I am by its loving, patient and determined response to this most cruel disease. Alzheimer's leaves the body but robs the spirit. It hollows out the character, the personality and the memory. A mother who once greeted you with a hug, a smile and a million questions and stories now wonders blankly who you are. A husband once full of fun and vitality sits lost in silence day after day. For family and friends who once shared with the Alzheimers sufferer the fullest of lives, the new life they must now adapt to, is full of sadness, worry and very draining care commitments. It is doubly lonely given the loss of true companionship and the overwhelming burden of care.
We are encouraged by the great strides being made in medical research but still do not know nearly enough about how to prevent Alzheimers and the effective cure that we hope for remains elusive. Meanwhile men and women sufferers need to be looked after well and those who are their carers need the respite that allows them to refuel their batteries and keep going. The role played by the Alzheimer Society’s Day Care Centres is absolutely crucial. It creates a safe space and a welcoming place for Alzheimers patients. It provides reassurance to carers, as well as that essential support and respite.
Building and running a Centre such as this is not easy. It demands huge work, commitment and finance, and mostly from people who already have busy and complicated lives with little time off for themselves. Yet they commit to this work and to this project with a heart and a half, and out of their combined efforts has come this tremendous facility, a lifeline for so many, the difference between enduring life and enjoying life. My sincerest compliments and thanks go to all those who have helped turn a great idea and a longed for ambition, into this reality. To those who will work here I wish you the kind of fulfilment that re-energizes you even when you are at your most tired. To those who come here as users of the service or their family and friends, I hope that here you find yourself part of a caring community anxious to share the heavy burden that Alzheimer’s creates. A special thank you to the volunteers, the professionals and the fundraisers whose efforts will sustain this place. Without your work and without this centre so many lives would be lonlier, tougher and more fraught. Because you are here, many people can face tomorrow, can look forward to it without the dread and the aching tiredness that comes from coping alone. Thank you for committing to creating community, and giving us the pride and hope that this Day Care Centre is filled with on this special day.
You are doing great work and I wish you well in that work for the future.
I now have the privilege of declaring the Waterford Alzheimer Day Care Centre open.
Is iontach an obair ata ar siúl agaibh anseo. Comhghairdeas libh inniu ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Go raibh maith agaibh.