REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY STUDIES, NCI
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY STUDIES, NATIONAL COLLEGE OF IRELAND TUESDAY, 11TH NOV
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá an áthas orm bheith i bhur measc ar on ocáid seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom.
The St. Laurence O’Toole Junior Girls School created a beautiful welcome and I hope that in a few short years some of the girls might find themselves here again as third-level students at this terrific facility right on their very doorstep and very much part of their local community. The official launch of a new School of Community Studies tells us how important community is to the National College of Ireland and I want to thank its President, Dr. Paul Mooney, for inviting me to this very special occasion.
The last time I was here, it was to unveil the magnificent Vivienne Roche sculpture just outside this building - a massive flower, an iris symbolising the blossoming of talent through education. So many students have come through this College and, no matter what they were studying, the main journey they were going was deep into themselves, finding out their strengths and the weaknesses, testing themselves and being tested, disciplining themselves to stay away from all the glib and ultimately useless distractions and to keep their focus on bringing out the very best in themselves. They have left here with certificates and diplomas that have opened doors of opportunity to them, the kind of doors that only open to people who have themselves used the great opportunity that education itself gives us.
Now this College is turning its focus in a very intent way on the role of community in our lives for, next to family and home, community is the place which most deeply shapes our lives. It’s the place we grow up in, the neighbours and friends we have, the shops we buy things in, the schools we attend, the church we go to, the social club we have fun in, the sports club we play for or support, the development group that builds our community centre and keeps it going, the volunteer groups who help the poor, the elderly, those with intellectual or physical disability - it’s the place we look out for one another and it only works well when people generously and unselfishly make it work. It’s a place where strangers become good neighbours and friends.
Some communities are strong and some are not. Some are very old, some are just starting out. Some have great resources and others are resource poor. Here in this College all communities have a friend and new resource in Michele Ryan, Dean of the School, and in her committed scholarly team, for while it sometimes looks as if community just happens by coincidence, the truth is that community happens by dint of hard work. Communities can be strengthened by better education, better insight into their own structures, better coping skills to deal with their weaknesses, greater skill in assessing their needs and articulating them effectively and in accessing the right resources. No two communities are exactly the same but all have an ambition to improve their quality of life. This new school will help them to do that in a way that is customised to their needs. It is set to be the friend and guide that helps communities chart their own roadmap to progress and to good problem-solving.
Now, as people grow worried about job security and unemployment, the message of hope that this place offers is that worry solves nothing but sensible planning does. It is sensible to plan to improve our education and skills and training during these tougher times for these things open up our life’s opportunities and give us options and choices that doing nothing can’t provide.
“Tús maith is leath na hoibre”, as the Irish proverb puts it and what better way to prepare for our future as individuals and as community to one another than through education. Yeats got it so right when he said, “Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.” For Ireland, it has been the main agent of change that transformed a small, impoverished nation into one of the world’s leading economies. It will be the agent of change which will help us ride out the storms of global economic uncertainty and prepare us for whatever lies ahead. What is more, while it strengthens us as individuals, that other Irish proverb reminds us that “Ní neart go chur le cheile”, our very best strength lies in working together. Communities that have strong, educated individuals as leaders, doers and as sources of creative energy will survive and transcend life’s ups and downs much better than communities overwhelmed by problems and without enough problem-solvers.
The National College of Ireland is intent on building up the problem-solving skills of communities and in promoting successful, high-achieving communities. It deserves our gratitude and our respect for the pioneering way in which it takes learning beyond the classroom and out into the community. I wish the new School, its staff and its students every success and it is now my very great pleasure to officially launch the new School of Community Studies at the National College of Ireland.
Go n-éirí go geal libh ‘s go raibh míle, míle maith agaibh.