REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF CUAN MHUIRE REHAB CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF CUAN MHUIRE REHABILITATION CENTRE SATURDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER
Dia Dhiabh a chairde ar maidin.
Good afternoon, everybody.
We meet here in celebration and in gratitude for the forty years of service of the Cuan Mhuire Rehabilitation Centre. My thanks to our good friend Sr. Consilio Fitzgerald for inviting me to join with you in this celebration and to Liam McLoughlin for all his hard work in preparing for this visit. My thanks also to each of you for that warm welcome.
Today gives me an opportunity to say thank you to the many people past and present who for four decades now have committed their time and talent and energy and commitment and resourcefulness to working in the field of addiction, that blight of all blights in our modern world. You have provided a lifeline to so many thousands of individuals and families and they each have cause to be so grateful to you for the treatment, counselling, support and hope you have brought to lives skewed out of kilter by addiction. Each time that you have helped someone to overcome feelings of dejection and rejection, particularly because of addiction, you help them to become aware of, and to deal with, the underlying problems related to that addiction. Through you they learn to live life no longer through a haze of unreality but with a clarity that helps them discover or rediscover their uniqueness, goodness and giftedness, their true purpose in life.
Addiction leaves a trail of wasted lives and of damage which is tragic and heartbreaking, a cycle of misery which is so off-putting, so seemingly hopeless, to many of us that we shun the thoughts, close off our consciousness to it. Sometimes we are simply overwhelmed by the sheer avoidability of it all. The people who started and sustained this centre though, who made it a success for the past four decades, did not shy away from the formidable challenges that presented, rather they identified what needed to be done, how they could relieve suffering; they rolled up their sleeves and got busy and we are so very grateful to them for doing so. Our world is a better place because of what you do day in, day out to help people put together again the pieces of lives disassembled by addiction.
Regrettably now in Ireland your services, your support, your caring are needed more than ever before because as we see in our more affluent Ireland our levels of alcohol consumption in every age group has sharply increased. And the trend is moving more towards drinking in the home, evidenced by the dramatic increase in wine sales over beer making news headlines again in just the last day or two. And the consequences of irresponsible drinking are the tragedies it brings on. For individual lives it fuels so many disasters, everything from suicide to foetal abnormalities. And we know it plays such havoc in society – the consequences found in our hospitals’ A & E departments, in the family law courts, on the dole queues, in the morgues and in the ‘safe havens’ such as Cuan Mhuire – ‘safe havens’ that perhaps for too long we have depended on. Is it appropriate for example that we leave it to people like Sr. Consilio and her team and the many others like them to pick up the pieces, to recover, to rehabilitate the person with a dependence on alcohol and then to watch them return to try and rebuild their lives in an Ireland which collectively displays ever-increasing evidence of that same dependence? Is it time that we, as a nation, take stock, take responsibility for our excessive drinking? If we want what every parent wants – a better future for our children, – is it then appropriate that we continue to link inextricably alcohol with almost every life event – whether a Christening, first Communion, wedding or funeral? In sport is it appropriate that after the weekly ‘under 6’s’ or ‘under 16’s’ matches the pint in the clubhouse or the pub needs to play its part in the celebrations and commiserations? Is it not time that we adopted a sensible balance in our drinking habits, for everybody’s sake?
Twelve months ago (29th Sept) I hosted a forum for young people on alcohol at Áras an Uachtaráin. It was their day, it was about hearing from them – their experiences, their concerns, their suggestions, for they after all are the problem solvers of tomorrow. In preparing my opening comments I remember citing some statistics – for example why is it that in France, the home of wine that only 5% of people who have a glass of wine will have five more when in Ireland it’s a staggering 85%? What is it about us now that explains why alcohol related illnesses over the previous 10 years should have increased by almost two thirds? The report compiled by the young people themselves was both informative and worrying in many respects. It was worrying, not least, because drinking was viewed, not (as) a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ for young people and that this was a precursor to a ‘sooner rather than later’ approach to drinking.
Perhaps it is truly a time to take stock so that our children and children’s children won’t be looking to Cuan Mhuire in another 40 years to solve even greater problems than they do already. Today, though, is about celebrating that commitment, that dedication, that caring, that restoring of hope, opportunity, and self-esteem to people in this place, this centre of excellence. Equally importantly what you do here has helped to de-stigmatise addiction, made it easier to take that first step to come forward and say I am here and I need help, please help me.
Through those 40 years many lessons have been learned here, important lessons that have helped in our understanding of the issues and new methodologies have emerged helping hugely in the battle against addiction.
Cuan Mhuire has also created its fair share of heroes – people who have been helped by you, people who live full lives now through controlling their addiction. Today it is appropriate that we celebrate their individual victories as we celebrate the many victories, successes of Cuan Mhuire in the past. May you Sr. Consilio and the wonderful support team who have made Cuan Mhuire what it is today continue in your important work. So many lives depend on it.
Is iontach an obair ata ar siul agaibh anseo. Gurb fada buan sibh. Comhghairdeas libh arís ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh.