REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF TULLOW PARISH CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF TULLOW PARISH CENTRE WEDNESDAY 11 JULY, 2001
Is cúis mhór áthas dom bheith anseo libh inniú ag an ocáid spesialta seo. Tá mé buíoch díbh as an chuireadh agus an fáilte fíorchaoin a chur sibh romham.
It is a great pleasure to join the people of Tullow as you celebrate this special day in the history of the parish. My thanks to Fr. Byrne for inviting me to perform the official opening of this Centre which is the visible outward sign of a caring, committed, resilient community.
This property has a long association with the work of the gospel from the days when generations of young Patrician Brothers trained here before commencing their life’s work in schools in Ireland and in many countries throughout the world. Today that legacy of care continues with the new vision, new shape, new energy and new ideas needed to respond to the needs of these modern times. Now Tullow has a wonderful community centre, a home to over 50 different groups in the area. The embrace of this community campus is wide from the “Drop-In” centre for young people to the houses for the elderly built by Tinteán, the Voluntary Housing Agency. Here community really does mean everyone and today everyone is entitled to take pride in being part of a community which is energetic, hard-working and achieving.
It would be easy to take these things for granted but those who embarked on this project and who saw it through to completion know very well just how much relentless, sustained hard work is involved in a project such as this. Healthy, vibrant communities do not happen by accident. They happen because people commit to them. They join committees, they fundraise, they organise, they see problems and they find solutions, they see opportunities and they use them. Tullow is very fortunate to have a team of community builders, people are prepared to row in, give their time, talent, money, support, for an end result which is not selfish, but which is for the good of all. Someone had to make a start. Someone had to set up the partnerships and networks which allowed this project to go from being an idea to a reality. First there was the job of mobilising the community itself, then, of forging links with FÁS, Carlow County Council and Carlow County Enterprise Board. Each of these links was vital to the success of the project and now that the project has been so successful, this community has given itself not just a community centre but a new set of skills, a new source of pride and real hope for the future. All over Ireland, communities are using this partnership model to harness the best they have within the community, to put it to work with the best help on offer from Central and Local Government and other funding agencies as well as from the business and Voluntary Sector. They bother to do it because they know that strong communities are the best guard we have against the many things which weaken the civic fabric and drain us of our joy in life.
At the heart of strong communities are individuals who are generous with their time, their talent, their money and this centre is a credit to the generosity of you, the people of Tullow. I know it took a great deal of fundraising – never the easiest of jobs and I would like to thank all the tireless volunteers who took on this thankless task. I am sure there is a special place in heaven for fundraisers. I am equally sure there is a special place at the opposite end of heaven for friends of fundraisers. All of us who have fund-raising friends know only too well the machiavellian depths their imagination can go to in inventing fresh ways of parting us from our cash. But we hand it over with a heart and a half because it is always in a good cause. They helped in a very significant way to make today possible. I would also like to pay tribute to FÁS, Carlow County Council, and Carlow County Enterprise Board whose contribution was also essential and whose support gave such validation and encouragement to the Tullow community. Between you all Tullow now has a new centre of gravity, a place to grow a new set of community memories, a place where people can experience the joy of belonging, of being a friend and not a stranger.
I wish you all congratulations and every success with your new centre. May it be an invaluable asset to the community and a powerful inspiration to each new generation to set new goals and to keep this community as confident and caring as it is today.
Is iontach an obair atá ag siúl agaibh agus guím Dé air sa todhchaí. Go raibh maith agaibh.