REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE REHABCARE RESOURCE CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE REHABCARE RESOURCE CENTRE, DUNDALK ON THURSDAY, 24th JULY, 2003
Tá mé iontach sásta bheith i bhur measc inniu ag an ócáid speisialta seo. Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch díbh go léir as an chuireadh a thug sibh dom teacht anseo agus as an fáilte a bhí chaoin, cneasta agus croiúil.
It’s good to be in Dundalk on this very special occasion. My thanks to Aveen McAteer Toner for the kind invitation to perform the official opening of RehabCare’s fine new Resource Centre.
Today is very much a celebration of community and partnership. It celebrates what can be achieved when caring and committed people come together to work for the betterment of their community. The power of the partnership between the RehabCare Resource Centre and the North Eastern Health Board is in evidence today. It has created an initiative which will make a very real difference to the lives of many people, bringing them choices and opportunities, they would otherwise never have had. You are entitled to be proud of what has been done here and will be done for our brothers and sisters with special needs to ensure their lives blossom, that they grow in skills and confidence so that they can live lives with the maximum levels of independence and achievement. What is to me particularly heartening is to see the person-centred service approach in action. The keystone of the Resource Centre model is the way it puts the individual right at the heart of the service, giving to each a central role in the development of their own action plan, empowering them, listening to what they say, ensuring that lives are not half lived, half-wasted, through underachievement but lived fully through careful and customized planning rather than casual opportunity.
The Special Olympic World Summer Games thrilled and enthralled us with the sporting talent and the dazzling display of volunteer power. Dundalk in general and the RehabCare Centre in particular have their own story to tell of hosting the Greek Team comprising more than 100 athletes and their coaches. Only you know the huge amount of preparation, fundraising and organization that went in to making their visit to Dundalk and Ireland so wonderfully successful. Each of those visitors has taken away a great message about Ireland- they are terrific ambassadors for our country and its spirit of care for one another. I would like to congratulate and thank RehabCare and the people of Dundalk who did so much to make the Games the very best games ever held.
Just like the Games, this project is the result of a close partnership between a number of different groups - both statutory and voluntary, professional and non-professional, without whose help and support it could not, would not have been possible. This initiative has been a ground-breaking one in many ways for the range of imaginative features – the new drama workshop which was set up following the success of the cross-border drama project called The Bridge Theatre Company; the horticultural project which I’ve just visited and is terrific as well as the Centre’s facilities designed to develop individual work skills and leisure interests. You have shown what can be achieved when people have the courage and determination to experiment with new ideas, to learn from those experiences, to refine, to strive for better and better. Too often perhaps in the past we have tended to stick with what is familiar, what we are comfortable with rather than exploring new possibilities. At the very opposite end of the spectrum is where RehabCare is and we are very lucky and very grateful for what you do here for others and equally of importance, the way that you do it.
There are now over forty people with disabilities availing of the services of this Resource Centre. For them and for their families this place gives great hope. I would like to pay tribute to the generosity of the people of Dundalk whose generosity in so many different ways has put a new heart into this town for those with disabilities. RehabCare’s foresight in preparing for a very different future for those with special needs is very reassuring and a strong witness to other communities. May this Centre prosper and grow in the years ahead with many stories of successes and fulfillment, for clients, staff, supporters, and for the town of Dundalk.
I now take great pleasure in declaring the RehabCare Resource Centre officially open.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.