REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE TRAVELLER CENTRE AT BALLYARNET PARK, DERRY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE TRAVELLER CENTRE AT BALLYARNET PARK, DERRY THURSDAY, 6 DECEMBER, 2001
I am delighted to have the opportunity to be here with you today and I wish to thank Margaret Boyle and the Derry Travellers Support Group for the kind invitation to officially open the Centre. I would also like to thank you all for the warm welcome to Martin and I since we arrived - it’s good to be among friends.
Last week I was in London at the Hammersmith and Fulham Irish Centre. There is an exhibition of photographs there of the Traveller life and the first photograph is of a large kettle bubbling over a warm, welcoming outdoor fire – a symbol of a people who welcome each other around a fire, who gather to tell stories and sing songs, a people who have their own language, culture, history, characters, poems, hopes and dreams, hardships and tragedies. A people apart in some senses, a people at the heart of Irish life in others. A people who know what it is to be outcasts, a people who are entitled to their place at the centre, to their welcome around the fire of prosperity and plenty.
The community here at Ballyarnet Park is doing its bit to make sure there is a better future ahead for the Travelling Community. Much has happened since 1995, when a group of people met for a consultation day and decided to create a purpose built Traveller Centre. No one person, organization or agency could deliver the idea alone but working in partnership, the dream was delivered. Five years of determined hard work, dedication and untiring efforts have now paid off and not only do you have this Centre to show for those efforts but you have also shown the power of partnership. The Derry Travellers Support Group, along with members of the Travelling community and the funding agencies including the Dept. of Social Development have shown how much strength and energy there is when people are committed to working together towards a common goal.
You have already gone the journey of partnership that the rest of Northern Ireland and this island generally is going, thanks to the Good Friday Agreement. We do not yet fully know where that journey will take us but we do know that there is much to look forward to. What you have accomplished here allows us to look forward to the future with real enthusiasm and curiosity.
Because of that joint effort, you now have a wonderful resource for this community – a bright welcoming centre alive and bustling with activity - a wide range of activities including a homework club, young men and women’s groups, and a very beautiful crèche!
Most importantly and to your great credit, you have established an inter-agency group, working to develop a strategic approach to meeting the needs of Travellers; examining issues of vital importance - social exclusion, health, education, employment and living conditions - all relevant, all challenges needing to be met and addressed. We want an inclusive society where no one is on the margins, where each child’s giftedness and talent is fully revealed, fully harvested and your work is essential in helping both Travellers and the settled community to figure out what needs to be done on all sides to create the conditions in which every human being can thrive, blossom and prosper. I am certainly looking forward to hearing more of the strategic thinking of this inter-agency group.
One of the things which can ruin a life is to be the victim of hatred, contempt, racism or sectarianism. To be despised because of what you are and not to be respected because of who you are is a chilling and excluding and a disempowering thing. I was particularly impressed to see that you offer anti-racism/cultural awareness training to the statutory and voluntary sector. Many things create barriers of misunderstanding and intolerance and there are faults, failings, misconceptions and misapprehensions on each side. There is also much to be gained from insight into each other’s perceptions which is why the dialogue you are promoting is so healthy and important.
A strong and resilient civic society cannot afford to waste any of its God given talent. Every person whose talents are wasted is a loss to his or her community and that loss weakens the fabric of the entire society. Each man, woman, boy, or girl, regardless of culture, race, religion or tradition is a part of the rich tapestry of life on this island. When each blossoms, when each is self-confident, when each is content, you have an achieving, confident and peaceful community.
I know that is what you want and why you have worked so hard to make this day and the days to come so much more hope-filled than many days gone past. You believe that your work can change lives, can open them up in ways the past failed to do. I wish you every success in that work.
I commend everyone involved in the completion of this wonderful, bright,
Centre – you are entitled to be justly proud. May it be a new source where dialogue between the Travellers and the settled community helps both to find new pathways to partnership and embrace. May this centre represent the first of many, many successful ventures undertaken by the Derry Travellers Support Group.
I hope that this Christmas season will bring peace, contentment, good health and happiness to each and every one of you and your families.
Thank You.