PRESIDENT’S REMARKS AT THE OPENING OF THE OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE’S ANNUAL MEETING
PRESIDENT’S REMARKS AT THE OPENING OF THE OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE’S ANNUAL MEETING OF LAW PROGRAM COORDINATORS
Dia dhíbh, a cháirde go léir. Tá mé iontach sásta bheith anseo libh inniu.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you. I would like to welcome all our visitors to Ireland with the tradition céad míle fáilte – a hundred thousand welcomes. I am delighted that the Open Society Institute has chosen Dublin for this annual meeting and am honoured to open this very important event.
The writer John Updike once said that ‘The essential support and encouragement comes from within, arising out of the mad notion that your society needs to know what only you can tell it’. For me, those words are a salutory reminder of how, for many years, Ireland along with most other countries did not listen to what a very significant minority of our citizens had to tell us. And by not listening, by not hearing their stories, we failed to give that important group their rightful place in a society in which they should have been equal members.
Thankfully much has now changed for disabled people in Ireland and I know you have chosen to hold your annual meeting in our country because of our reputation for innovation in this field. There is no doubt that over the last few decades we have seen a remarkable sea change and a dramatically altered landscape in this country for people with disabilities. It is still by no means perfect but milestones such as the establishment of a National Disability Authority; the development of greatly improved health services for people with physical disabilities; the range of allowances and grants to support independent living; the publishing of a strategic plan to provide a more just and equal society; combined with the introduction of a large body of legislation have all greatly advanced the process of social inclusion for people with disabilities in this country. But above all we have a growing culture of self-advocacy and a growing culture of listening to those whose authentic voices and lived stories alone can reshape our understanding and tilt the balance in our unbalanced world.
That transformation did not, of course, happen overnight. It took many years of quiet, determined effort, much persistence and a resolute programme of public education, re-education and awareness. And during that gradual awakening we became conscious of how impoverished the lives of so many people suffering from a disability were by lack of opportunities, lack of education , lack of social inclusion. So many lives were only half-lived, so many talents still-born or wasted because of a focus on disability rather than ability and a set of untested presumptions about the limits to what society could expect from those with disability and what they could expect from themselves and for themselves. As a society we were also diminished by our failure to allow those with disabilities to become active participants in our communities speaking for and about themselves and making independent choices about how to live their lives.
Today one of our citizens, Mark Pollock is the first blind man to have reached the South Pole, the first to have captained a racing yacht around Ireland and, as he copes courageously with the additional disability of paralysis, we who know him know there are incredible radical, assumption altering chapters yet to come in his life. He is one of many of our citizens who have opened our eyes and ears and imaginations to the potential of a fully inclusive society that facilitates and encourages each human being to develop the most enriching life possible.
The Irish Legislature lays down a common framework under which to address unequal treatment, undertake positive action and promote equality. In promoting this approach, the State has encouraged employers and providers of goods and services to broaden their thinking and incorporate into their mainstream planning an awareness of, and responsiveness to, the variety of needs of potential employees, clients and service users. This general framework permeates most activities of daily life – applying to access to healthcare, to goods and services, to housing, education and vocational training and to employment.
We now welcome children with disabilities into our mainstream schools to sit, socialise and learn alongside their siblings and neighbours. We proudly send some of our best young athletes to the Special and Para - Olympics and even more proudly came together formidably as a nation to host the World Summer Games in 2003, the largest international sporting event ever held in this country. We have developed assistive technology and now support and encourage people with disabilities to work in integrated employment.
I attend graduation and President’s Award ceremonies where men and women with intellectual and other disabilities step on to the platform to collect their diplomas or their gold awards, confident in themselves and confident in their futures as citizens whose talents and skills, whose personalities and character are destined to have the space they need to make their full imprint on every aspect of Irish life.
We still have further to go. Back in 1916 at the outset of our nation’s journey to Independence, our founding fathers issued a proclamation that spoke of the creation of a republic which would cherish all the children of the nation equally. We know we still have work to do to remove any remaining physical or attitudinal barriers that may be preventing people with disabilities from pursuing their personal goals and objectives in their careers, education, family or ordinary daily life. We remain totally committed to the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In fact our National Disability Strategy, and the services and facilities provided from it, already implements many of the provisions of the Convention. The forthcoming publication of the Mental Capacity Bill will move us from a status definition of incapacity to a functional one allowing a more flexible and personal approach to decision making for those with mental disabilities. I am proud that we still continue to push the boundaries and to do all that we can to ensure that we do in word and indeed cherish all our citizens equally, that all of their stories are heard and heeded.
Albert Einstein once said that ‘All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.’ That beautifully sums up the aims and goals of the Open Society Institute. I wish you well with your meeting and renew my thanks to each one of you for coming here, I hope the next few days are informative, stimulating and energising so that you leave here with new found wisdom, insight and enthusiasm. Finally, when each day’s hard work is done, I hope that you find some time to enjoy our famous Irish hospitality and make or renew friendships.
Thank you very much. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.