REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF WOODLANDS PARK JAMES CONNOLLY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF WOODLANDS PARK JAMES CONNOLLY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL BLANCHARDSTOWN
Cuireann sé áthas orm bheith anseo libh inniu. Tá mé buíoch díbh as an gcuireadh agus as an bhfáilte fhíorchaoin a chur sibh romham.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to be with you today on this happy and important occasion in the history of this hospital - the official opening of this beautiful landscaped garden. I would like to thank Maureen Windle, Chief Executive of the Northern Area Health Board for the kind invitation to join you today.
What we have here is a fine example of what can be achieved through partnership. This project has come to life through a very successful partnership involving the staff of the hospital and prison officers and prisoners from Mountjoy Prison. I understand however that the seed for this project was sown by Staff Nurse Eileen O’Doherty who saw the potential for developing this area into a landscaped garden to provide a place of beauty, a place to relax and enjoy the company of others for the residents of the long stay Unit. Well done Eileen, it was a marvellous idea and it will I’m sure bring enjoyment to people for many years to come.
Since it was opened in 1955 the management and staff at James Connolly Memorial Hospital have worked tirelessly and with great compassion and determination and commitment to provide the best possible standards of care for its patients. This is reflected in the Woodlands Extended Care Unit where staff take an holistic approach to the care of residents, tailoring services to meet the needs of the individual, focussed on providing care as and when required, for as long as is needed in the most appropriate setting.
Because of what has been done here, the residents of the long stay Unit in James Connolly Memorial Hospital will know and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of this garden. It is wonderful to have this quiet, this peaceful haven to enjoy in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of such a busy hospital complex. We owe our gratitude to everyone involved in the project not least the Prison Officers, Prisoners and Prison Workshops of Mountjoy Prison. Prisoner work projects such as this give prisoners the opportunity to develop skills and to work as part of a team on worthwhile projects, hopefully helping them to be better placed to secure employment when their time for release comes.
Woodlands Park represents one of a lengthy series of projects on which teams of Mountjoy staff and prisoners have worked on, in and around Dublin over the past 24 years. The projects undertaken each made a real, tangible difference in the lives of many people in this city and for that we are very grateful to everyone involved.
I am sure that this wonderful garden with its sitting and picnic areas, pergola and pond will become a focal point where patients, their families, friends and staff can meet and chat in pleasant surroundings. It will also be a place for people to enjoy privacy and solitude. This garden demonstrates yet again the commitment of everyone at James Connolly Memorial to making this place a centre of excellence, a centre of caring where people really matter and where what matters to people matters to those here at the hospital. On behalf of the people you care for so well, their families and the rest of us who appreciate what you do but seldom express it – I say thank you.
I would like to conclude by congratulating the Staff of Woodlands, the Prisoners of Mountjoy, the Partnership in Care/Families of Woodlands and the Northern Area Health Board for the success that is this wonderful garden.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.