REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OPENING OF THE NEW OFFICES OF THE CORK MENTAL HEALTH ASSN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF THE NEW OFFICES OF THE CORK MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Is cúis mhór áthais dom bheith anseo libh inniu ag an ócaid specialta seo agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as an chaoin-chuireadh. Tá ard-mheas agam le fada an lá ar an obair atá ar siúl agaibh.
Good morning everybody and thank you for this opportunity to be part of yet another good news story from Cork. I am extremely grateful to Mags Ryan for inviting me to join you in opening these superb new offices.
I travel the country each week driven around by garda drivers who never get lost. If they don’t know the route there are maps and if the maps don’t give enough detail there is the network of Garda colleagues to help. So I have never had to worry about finding my way. But for those who suffer from mental illness, life can often seem to be a bewildering maze, a place without signposts or maps, a place that it is easy to feel lost in or overlooked. The truth is there are maps, there is a network of help and support. It does not have to be a lonely journey for the Cork Mental Health Association has for years dedicated itself to supporting those who experience mental ill health, bringing them out of the coldness of isolation into the light and warmth of community. This Association has also helped to educate the community and to strengthen its range of resources in dealing with mental illness. So you invest in the coping skills of the individual and the coping skills of the community.
Thanks to you we have a deeper comprehension of the complex needs of those who experience mental health difficulties, from the practical and material needs that underpin good quality independent living, to the medical, emotional and psychological needs which promote the effective management of mental illness. Attitudes have changed considerably from the days when a diagnosis of mental ill-health consigned a person to the margins taking them out of the everyday world of social, economic, political and cultural activities of their communities. We now know what a tragic waste that was and how deep the hurt it caused. Today our ambition to be a comprehensively inclusive society includes an ambition to make life as good, happy, fulfilling and full as it can be for those who face the struggle of living with mental illness. We know that the treatment of that illness within the medical sphere important though it is, is far from the only response. The promotion of the psychological health and well being of the population at large, individuals, families and communities is a key task of our health services and we all share responsibility for the creation of a culture in which each citizen takes seriously his or her personal role as a champion of mental well-being. Taboos and taunts, labels and insensitivity are all human creations. Mostly they arise out of ignorance. They add to the sum total of human misery, they skew lives out of kilter and they can drive the suffering human being into even deeper isolation and alienation. Your projects help to address that ignorance, dispelling myths and misconceptions, clearing away the obstacles to healthy and happy interaction between all members of our society. Your insights into family and communal life allow us to understand better than any previous generation just how vulnerable the human personality can be when subjected to abuse, violence, neglect, poverty and exclusion. The ‘Reflecting Through Art’ exhibition soon to celebrate 40 years opens up spaces that words sometimes cannot describe or reach and is a particularly effective bridge between the artists and the wider community.
There would be no Cork Mental Health Association without the extraordinary dedication and commitment of its volunteers throughout the county. Without your work so many lives run the risk of being only half-lived, a huge loss to the individual and to all of us. So be very sure that your work is hugely important and though never done for thanks or recognition richly deserves both.
I congratulate everyone associated with the Cork Mental Health Association and these fine new offices. They will carry on the work in a 21st century environment and I hope that in this century we will learn how to make history of mental ill-health. I now declare this new HQ officially open and I wish you every success in your future work.
Comhghairdeas libh agus go n-éirí go geal libh. Go raibh maith agaibh.