REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF DÍSEART INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF DÍSEART INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION AND CELTIC CULTURE
Tá gliondar croí orm bheith anseo libh inniu. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte fhíor chaoin.
Tá mé iontach sásta bheith ar ais sa ‘Ríocht’ agus cuireann sé lúcháir orm bheith libh ag an ócáid seo. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Ollamh Pádraig Ó Fiannachta, Cathaoirleach Bhord Bainistíochta Díseart, agus le baill an Bhoird, as an chuireadh seo agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh uilig as an fháilte chaoin a chuir sibh romham anseo innui san Institiúid Oideachais agus Chultúr Dúchais.
Nach fóirstineach agus nach fáilteach an foirgneamh é seo mar ionad fá choinne obair Díseart: cur chun cinn ár gcultúir fríd an teanga, an cheol, an damhsa agus an bhéaloideas. Tá muid fá chomaoin mhór ag Siúracha na Toirbhirte as an chlochar ollásach agus na gairdíní áille a ghabhann leis a thabhairt don tionscnamh seo ar léas fada. Is breá mar a baistíodh an áit – Díseart – nó is cuan suaimhnis ar leith é don scoláire a bheadh i mbun taighde nó staidéir nó marana go díreach. Ní beag mar a chuireann na heachtraí as beatha Chríost atá léirthe i bhfuinneoga Ionracha Harry Clarke le niamhracht an tí. Ceanglaíonn siad an t-áras seo le foirgnimh go leor eile ar fud an domhain a bhfuil saothar laoch Eireannach seo na gloine daite le feiceál iontu, ó Loch Dearg go hÁras na Náisiún Aontaithe sa Ghinéiv, ó Oileán Thóraighe go dtí mo sheanscoil féin, Coláiste San Dominic i mBéal Feirste.
Díseart is about providing easy access to people from home and abroad who want to grow in appreciation of our rich native Irish culture whether through language, literature, spirituality or the other flourishing arts. We are fortunate to be the inheritors of a deeply veined cultural heritage but we are also fortunate to have here in Díseart such determined champions and custodians of that heritage. The heart of Corca Dhuibhne is about as perfect a location as it is possible to find not just for its intimate natural beauty but for its unbroken links to the ancient Celts, to the Tuatha de Danann, and to the Irish language with its enormous irreplaceable reservoir of stories of the people on whose lives ours are built. But of course Díseart is about the future as much as it is about the past. Here the casual student, the serious student, the cultural tourist, the curious local, can each choose from a huge range of courses as diverse as Web Design and Celtic Culture. Each can know the joy of a new interest, a new skill, a new passion, the pride of adding something new to the self, the fulfilment of friendships made with strangers. And this place can take pride in the fact that as it takes each student on a journey into him or herself, it also takes each on a journey into Irish culture.
That culture is not like a cake that diminishes and disappears the more people it is divided between. It is more akin to a well that keeps on filling and refilling so that each student has the chance to make his or her unique contribution to our contemporary developing culture. Nor is that culture like the icing on a cake, simply an adornment that sits on the thing that is more substantial. Our culture is the leaven at the heart of our lives. It is what gives us our very particularity and education is the key to bringing it alive in the individual and in the community. I hear that you have just held a very successful first Music Summer School and I’m sure the sound of music in Dingle last week planted the seeds of a very successful new venture.
Díseart – the word, carries with it echoes of a refuge, a sanctuary. It can even mean a deserted place but you have turned that meaning on its head. Instead you have created a welcoming space where many students and visitors can enjoy the experience of learning. You have brought vitality, energy and renewed hope to a remote and magnificent part of our island home. To those who had the vision and the gumption to see it through, I offer a warm thank you. I congratulate you for all that you have achieved and wish you well as your future plans roll out seamlessly, bringing the name of Díseart around the world and bringing the world here to Díseart.
Dean aim comhghairdeas libh as a bhfuil bainte amach agaibh, agus as a bhfuil a rún agaibh a chur i gcríoch sa todhchaí, agus sibh i mbun Díseart a chur i mbéal an phobail ar fud na cruinne. Fógraím Díseart, an Institiúid Oideachais agus Chultúr Dúchais, ar oscailt go hoifigiúil.
Gabhaim buíochas libh arís agus guím rath Dé oraibhse agus ar bhur gcuid oibre sna blianta atá romhainn amach.