REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF A NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF A NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE ON COMPLETING THE FATIMA REGENERATION PROJECT
Dia dhíbh a chairde. It’s good to be back in Fatima this morning to launch this impressive new Neighbourhood Centre and mark the successful completion of Fatima Regeneration. Thanks to John Whyte and the Regeneration Board for inviting me and congratulations to the Fatima Community on a remarkable job of transformation. The faces are the same only younger then but Fatima has had a makeover second to none.
Eleven years ago I first came here to launch the Fatima Groups United report ‘Making Fatima a Better Place to Live’. Back then this community was living with a lever of disadvantage and disconnect from the wider society that put huge pressures on every age-group. Levels of unemployment were high, so was drug abuse and anti-social behaviour. It was an easy place to just give up on faith in the future. But the people refused to give up or to give in and out of your dreams for yourselves and your children came a plan to lift this place to a new level of achievement. You brought on board the people who could help deliver your renewed Fatima and with that wide variety of stakeholders, the Regeneration Board and the City Council, you changed the face of this part of the earth.
The run-down old flats are gone. Instead there are 600 smart and comfortable new homes in a mix of private and local authority housing. The LUAS just across the road, has made it so much easier to access the services, facilities and opportunities of the wider City and suburbs. These things we can see and admire but alongside all that changed physical infrastructure, there have been other changes too - just as important and in the long term even more important, for you didn’t just want the housing to change, you wanted people’s hearts and hopes to change too so that life would be fuller, safer, happier, more fulfilling. Back in 2005, I had the honour of launching the Social Regeneration Plan, your “Eight Great Expectations” for improving Fatima’s quality of life through services to improve health, to promote education and employment, to support the arts and sporting activities and to create a positive environment to live, with this new Neighbourhood Centre as the hub.
This beautiful Centre is an engine for a reinvigorated community life for young and old and everyone in between. The groups and organisations that work out of this centre, the people who use its services are building up a new Fatima and though times are touch economically, Fatima has a history of dealing with tough times second to none and a success story second to none in overcoming hardship and adversity.
The changes you have seen are not just things you sat and watched happening. You dreamt them, planned them, persuaded others to help implement the plan and you saw them through. It is ironic that while eleven years ago Fatima longed to be like the more affluent and achieving communities around this city, the transformation of Fatima has made this the place that we now look to for inspirational example as we try to find a safe way through the current economic storms. Fatima has demonstrated that almost anything is possible, if you are solid in your resolve, unstinting in your pursuit of it and if people work generously together for the common good of all.
Besides houses and halls, you have built the most important thing of all, a vibrant, sustainable community and one that has much to teach us. This is a successful Public Private Partnership and so the contribution of all the partners must be acknowledged. The prime partner is the Fatima Community and along with thanks to them go thanks to all who have served over the years on the Regeneration Board, including local TDs, representatives of community groups, An Garda Síochána and Dublin City Council. The Board has been ably chaired by Mr Finbarr Flood, with the ongoing support of Mr John Whyte, CEO and his team. Great credit is also due to the Project Management team and Area officials from Dublin City Council who have walked this long road in partnership with the citizens of Fatima. We also recognise the foresight and investment of the private sector partners, Maplewood Elliott, which has secured the overall success of Fatima Regeneration. You exemplify in practice the old Irish saying “Ní neart go chur le chéile” – we are at our strongest when we work together!
Today marks the official completion of the regeneration project with this opening of your new Neighbourhood Centre. Your journey here has been inspirational. I wish you all every success in the future, and I am sure that this new Centre will play a big part at the centre of neighbourhood life in Fatima for years to come. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.