PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE VISITS OUR LADY’S COLLEGE, GREENHILLS, DROGHEDA THURSDAY 7TH MAY, 1998
PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE VISITS OUR LADY’S COLLEGE, GREENHILLS, DROGHEDA THURSDAY 7TH MAY, 1998
The President, Mary McAleese, today visited Our Lady’s College, at Greenhills in Drogheda, and met with students, teachers, and with representatives of the parents and the Board of Management.
The President noted that she had received a very warm welcome to Drogheda, and mentioned that she had earlier visited St. Joseph’s Christian Brothers School who this year are marking 140 years of the Christian Brothers in the town. She had visited many communities over the last six months and saw it as her role to give recognition to the many people who are working for and within communities – people whose efforts at times go unnoticed.
She said that she was delighted to be visiting Our Lady’s, as it gave her an opportunity to pay tribute to everybody associated with the College and to affirm them in their important work of turning our generations of educated and talented young people, equipped with the knowledge and skills to make their own impact on their community and their country.
She noted that Our Lady’s overlooked the Boyne – a river that had so much significance in Irish history. She went on to say that the course of history had recently brought us to an important juncture, where we were poised to have a new set of relationships between the people and cultures of this island which could take us in new and productive directions.
The President then referred to the important role of education and educators in bringing us to where we are today – in facilitating the great success that we are enjoying, particularly over the last few years – how our educators had adapted to meet the demands which Ireland faced in the difficult years after the last World War – and how the foresight and courage of politicians, administrators and educators had enabled new generations to reap the benefit of their investments.
She said that everybody faces a different set of challenges in life, and recalled her own time in school, and how she had been fortunate to have a caring and sensitive teacher who helped her through difficulties. She said that many young people were inclined to keep their problems bottled up and to carry the burden themselves. In her experience there is always somebody prepared to listen and help to lighten the burden, to create some space in which to find a solution. Overcoming difficulties and burdens gave young people a strength of character that could not be assessed in examinations or rewarded with certificates, but would be reflected in the level of their maturity and their willingness to take on responsibilities.
Speaking about what lies ahead, the President noted that the construction of an extension to the College – to be completed in September – was an indication of the value of the College to Drogheda and its future generations. She praised the schools achievements in the Esat Telecom Young Scientists Competition in 1998 – when they won the ASTI Special Award for Best Overall School – and referred to the College’s musical successes - with the school’s Intermediate and Junior orchestras and the Choir. She said that the College’s good balance of science and arts achievements were an indication of the healthy philosophy of giving a good all-round education to the you