ÓRAID AN UACHTARÁIN OLLSCOIL NÁISIÚNTA NA hÉIREANN, GAILLIMH
ÓRAID AN UACHTARÁIN OLLSCOIL NÁISIÚNTA NA hÉIREANN, GAILLIMH DÉ SATHAIRN, 30 DEIREADH FÓMHAIR, 1999
A Dhochtúir Fottrell, agus a dhaoine uaisle,
Is mór an onóir agus an pléisiúr dom bheith anseo libh tráthnóna ar ócáid chomórtha oscailt na hollscoile seo, díreach céad caoga bliain is an lá inniu. Tá tábhacht níos mó fós ag baint leis an ócáid seo toisc daoine muinteartha leis na céad scoláirí agus na céad ollaimh a bheith anseo linn inniu. Tá fáilte faoi leith roimh na daoine seo, ar thaistil cuid díobh i bhfad le bheith i láthair. Fearaim céad míle fáilte fosta roimh na haíonna ar fad atá bailithe anseo chun ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar an ról faoi leith a bhí agus atá ag an ollscoil seo i saol na hÉireann.
In his famous essay, ‘The Idea of a University’, John Henry Cardinal Newman had this to say:
‘The general principles of any study you may learn by books at home; but the detail, the colour, the tone, the air, the life which makes it live in us, you must catch all these from those in whom it lives already.’
At the very heart of his idea of a university was not the beautiful buildings, the great library, the range of textbooks, the passing of exams - but the human beings, the teachers, those people who have inspired generations of students with their knowledge and passion and commitment.
That quote is central to what we are celebrating here this evening – 150 years, not of the establishment of the University of Ireland, Galway, itself – but rather of the establishment of teaching here. That distinction is an important one, for even in these days of the Internet, when we are surrounded by information, the role of the teacher is as valid, perhaps even more important, than ever. For teaching at its best is not simply about imparting information, citing references, enabling students to pass their exams. It is concerned to a far greater extent with unlocking the potential and imagination of a young student. And we should never underestimate the potential that such an experience has in terms of transforming young – and sometimes not so young -lives. I do not mean that lives are changed in an instantaneous, dramatic way – I am sure that the experience of most lecturers is that the number of Pauline-like conversions is greatly outweighed by the number of baffled expressions on the faces of their students. But those students who have been fortunate enough to have had a university lecturer who stretched them intellectually, who taught them not how to learn, but how to think, to question, to seize opportunities, to have a sense of curiosity, of purpose and of determination – those are the individuals who have received the best possible education and the best possible preparation for life. They are the ones will ultimately succeed, no matter what career path they choose. They are the ones who will become the leaders and ‘doers’ of tomorrow, the people who shape the world around them, the people that our society needs more than ever. And many graduates of this university have indeed achieved outstanding success in the public sector, business world and cultural sphere of this society and beyond.
Those generations of students, past and present, at this university are indeed blessed to have had the privilege of encountering so many Professors and lecturers who cared so deeply about what they taught and about the people they taught. More often that not, that dedication and commitment may have gone unnoticed and unmarked, overshadowed by the unending cycle of lectures, research, meetings and exams. That day-to-day work is at the core of what this university is about. But every so often, I believe it is important to stop for a moment on evenings such as this, to remind ourselves of how much has been achieved here over the years, accomplishments which have been painstakingly and quietly built up over the years and whose true extent is only apparent when we stop to reflect and take stock. The knowledge that what you do here is important and does make a difference is a vital source of energy for recharging your batteries, for overcoming the inevitable disappointments or setbacks that arise from time to time, for picking yourselves back up and facing a new day, a new year and a new generation of students with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and passion.
Sometimes it may seem that the fruits of your labour are in vain, that the love of learning, of intellectual discourse, of truth, of caring about knowledge as a value unto itself has been drowned out by utilitarian concerns, the points system, exam results, employment prospects.
Ní inniu ná inné a thosaigh daoine ag tuar bhás na scoláireachta. Chomh fada siar leis an seachtú aois déag bhí an file Dáibhí Ó Bruadair ag caoineadh imeacht na foghlama agus na scoláireachta Gaeilge, mar ba léir dó sin ag an am é. Ní gá dúinn ach amharc ar a mhór-chaoineadh ‘D’Aithle na bhFileadh’.
‘Daithle na bhfileadh dár ionmhas éigse is iúl Is mairg do-chonnairc an chinniúin d’éirigh dúinn A leabhair ag titim i leimhe ‘s i léithe i gcúil Is ag macaibh na droinge gan siolla dá séadaibh rún’.
Mar a bhain le glúin an fhile ní raibh dóchas ar bith ann. Bhí siad ag féachaint ar shaibhreas an tsaoil a bhí acu ag imeacht le gaoth agus leis na huaisle Gaelacha a bhí mar phatrúin orthu ag dul thar chuan amach. Dar leo go raibh síolta grá don fhoghlaim agus don scoláireacht a bhí curtha acu ag stracailt i dtalamh a bhí seasc, tur, marbh. Nach mór an chúis iontais agus áthais agus sásaimh do Dháibhí Ó Bruadair saol Gaelach na hollscoile seo a fheiceáil dá mbeadh sé linn inniu. Bheadh sé soiléir dó nach raibh an talamh chomh tur, seasc, marbh agus a shíl sé, ach gur tháinig an grá don fhoghlaim agus do scoláireacht na Gaeilge i mbláth go láidir, agus go bhfuil an Ghaeilge agus gach a mbaineann léi beo beathach san ollscoil seo atá céad caoga bliain d’aois inniu.
Tá ceacht anseo do mhuintir na hollscoile féin: Bíodh dóchas agaibh as na siolta atá curtha agaibh féin. Tiocfaidh bláth orthu i mbealaí agus in áiteanna nach dtig linn a shamhlú.
Is mór an méid atá déanta agus atá á dhéanamh ag an ollscoil seo ar son chaomhnú agus chothú na teanga Gaeilge. Is dlúth-chuid de shaol na hollscoile í an Ghaeilge, agus ní beag an tionchar atá ag an bheocht, an bheatha agus an úire a ghineann an ollscoil ar shaol na cathrach agus na tíre. Ní haon chomh-tharlúint é gurb í Gaillimh croílár thionscal na teilifíse Gaeilge agus na scannánaíochta, dhá ghné de shaol na Gaeilge a bhíonn ag tarraing ar bhrí na hollscoile seo. Is leor an fuinneamh atá faoin teanga anseo mar fhreagra ar na drogallóirí a bhíonn ag síor-thuar bhás na Gaeilge agus an chultúir atá mar dhlúth-chuid di.
Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl don Dochtúir Fottrell agus don Dochtúir Ruth Curtis, atá ina ball de Comhairle an Stáit, do Sheán Mac Suibhne agus don choiste eagrúcháin a thug cuireadh dom bheith i láthair libh ar an ócáid stairiúil seo, ócáid cheiliúrtha céad caoga bliain de theagasc san ollscoil seo. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil bhur gcuid pleananna féin agaibh chun an chéad céad caoga bliain eile de shaol na hollscoile a dhéanamh chomh rathúil agus chomh fiúntach agus chomh bríomhar leis an chéad go leith atá díreach imithe.
Guím gach rath agus séan oraibh san obair thábhachtach atá romhaibh amach: cur agus baint an eolais agus na foghlama.
Go n-éirí go geal libh. Go raibh maith agaibh.