REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT FARNEY COMMUNITY INFORMATION & RESOURCE CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT FARNEY COMMUNITY INFORMATION & RESOURCE CENTRE CARRICKMACROSS, CO. MONAGHAN FRIDAY 8TH MA
I am particularly pleased to be with you today to see the old Carrickmacross Union Workhouse - which the Farney Community Development Group plan to refurbish and restore - for use as a Community Development Training Centre.
Earlier I visited the Farney Community Information and Resource Centre - in Carrickmacross - and I was most impressed at the ambitious plans that you have for the development of the new centre here. Like other communities which I have visited since my inauguration - the achievement of the Farney community has shown - once again - what can be achieved at local level - by people who know their area intimately, and who know best what is needed to address the problems which the community themselves see as priorities. As I said – I’ve seen the plans for the restoration project - and I have to say that I am quite taken with the concept of transforming a place that has had such grim associations with poverty and deprivation - into a centre which will be a symbol of the community’s positive outlook - where people with the confidence and talent – can make positive changes - and give expression to those ambitions - breathing new life and vitality into the entire Farney community.
It is interesting to note that at about the time the workhouse was built in 1841 - the population of the Barony of Farney was in the region of 44,000. Comparing that figure with today’s population of 11,261 - starkly illustrates the magnitude of the impact which the Famine and the resultant haemorrhage of emigration has had on the Farney area.
I want to pay tribute to the Development Group for their initiative in drawing together so many local organisations and individuals - into a partnership of like-minded people and groups - with a common focus and a shared mission. Indeed the partnership approach has been one of the most significant features of our recent national and local successes – where the social partnerships at national level over the last decade – partnerships that have seen a remarkable transformation in the climate for business and economic development - have been mirrored in many local communities - throughout the length and breadth of Ireland – as people and voluntary local organisations work hand in hand with official agencies – organising their own funding – setting their own targets – and meeting their own needs. That process is a progressive process – where experience builds on experience – and there is a realisation that at all levels – there is sufficient talent and energy – and enough leadership skill and ability – to transform communities into vibrant and progressive places of which people can be proud.
I want to wish you well in the project – which I understand is ready to go ahead – as soon as all the paperwork is cleared up! I know that when it has been completed – you will have a Centre capable of meeting the needs of every sector – the aged – the unemployed – the youth of the area – and the many people in the community who will need to revise and renew their skills – to move on in their careers – or to re-enter the employment market.