ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DÓCHAS CENTRE OPENING
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF THE OPENING OF THE DÓCHAS CENTRE
Dia dhíbh a chairde. It’s good to be back in the Dochas Centre this time to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Centre. Thank you Governor McMahon for your kind introduction and invitation and thanks to all here in Dóchas for the welcome. The last time I was here was in 2004 for the Centre’s Christmas lunch and I can still remember the amazement I felt when I saw the huge changes in prison accommodation for women that Dóchas has brought about. Many years ago when I taught law in Trinity College I regularly brought students on visits to the Women’s prison and coming to Dochas was nothing like those visits. It is still prison of course but it is a prison that tries to get as close to a feel and experience of home as it can.
The word Dóchas means hope or expectation and that is what this place tries to be for each of those women for whom it is going to be home for a short or long period of their lives. This hope is more than a well-intentioned wish; instead it is backed up by an entire system that is designed to help each individual woman to do more than just get through prison life, but to bring something more to their lives, something that helps them face problems better, get more from their lives and potential so that they can give more to life. Here there is a huge range of services, resources, facilities and opportunities right at your hand. They are there for one reason and one reason only to help you and to support you through your time in prison so that these days, hours and months are not wasted but are used to build you up, to build up your health, your skills, your education, your abilities and talents so that you grow and develop in ways that strengthen you, make you more self-sufficient and resilient for the life you will resume outside of prison. I know that the staff here are supported in their work by a raft of external support organisations who visit the Dochas Centre: Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, St Vincent de Paul, Befrienders, Samaritans, Legion of Mary, Tús Nua, Ruhama and Coolmine. Many of these organisations are run by volunteers whose only reward is seeing a person who was abused or wounded by life or who has addiction problems finding their way to freedom from those things which have shut down their lives and made them hell on earth. They deserve thanks for the work they do, but the women who seek their help, the women who try to improve themselves and their lives also are due thanks for their courage in trying to turn their lives around, so that the mistakes and messes of their lives become history and not the future.
The Dochas Centre is set to inspire the design of the women’s prisons at Thornton Hall and in Kilworth, County Cork which says a lot about its success and about the determination that exists within the Prison Service to create facilities that build and sustain a positive relationship with the women prisoners. I would like to pay tribute to everyone who has worked in the Dóchas Centre in the last ten years for their contribution to making it a success. Particular thanks must go to Governor Kathleen McMahon who has been involved since the very start of the design process and whose kindness, compassion and humanity have been key elements in bringing the Centre to where it is today. And of course, thanks must go to you, the women who embrace the special ethos of Dochas, who are key partners in developing this holistic and caring regime. Thank you once again for the opportunity to join you here today. I wish you a very enjoyable tenth anniversary celebration and I wish you all well in the future. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.