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REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CAPPAMORE DAY CARE CENTRE

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CAPPAMORE DAY CARE CENTRE ON FRIDAY, 30 OCTOBER, 1998

I am delighted to be here with you today at the opening of the Cappamore Day Care Centre – and I would like particularly to thank Mr. Oliver Dillon, Secretary of the Cappamore Development Association, for affording me this opportunity of being with you to perform this pleasant task. I am grateful too for the chance to meet with you who are involved in providing for the needs of dependent older people and people with disabilities - and to use my visit here to give recognition to your vital work lookig after people who are vulnerable and in need of our special care and attention.

Looking around me I can see that completing a project like this involves a considerable amount of effort – that the centre didn’t just arrive over night – and that it represents a significant community effort through the contribution of time and resources. I know that the initial steps in this project were taken in 1995 by the Cappamore Development Association, when they made an approach to the Health Board about a Day Care Centre for Cappamore and the catchment area. Arising out of the work carried out subsequently by the Communiy Nursing Service and with the Health Board, you have today – scarcely two years since planning permission was obtained - a Centre which meets the daily needs of the elderly in the district – which has an activation unit of persons with learning disabilities – and which has shared community facilities providing for the development of Social Services like citizens’ information and advice – and the development of community health programmes. So the centre itself stands a tribute to the efforts and the generosity of the community here in Cappamore - and will be an enduring monument to your hard work in bringing it to fruition.

The great advantage of community efforts like this is that they address the needs as the community itself sees them – not as seen from a distance by those who do not have the benefit of local knowledge and familiarity with the community. This project is unique in that, in addition to the services for older people, it includes facilities for people with learning disabilities from the East Limerick area under the auspices of the Daughters of Charity, at Lisnagry – and has facilities for the development of Community Social Services and Health Programmes. The combination of these services and facilities will greatly enhance the quality of life of the whole population of Cappamore and the surrounding districts.

I would also like to acknowledge the contributions which have been made by the Mid-Western Health Board and the Department of Health and Children who have assisted the project by way of a substantial capital grant of £233,000. The Mid Western Health Board will also be funding the running costs of the Centre. By joining in partnership with the statutory authorities and working together to provide for the needs of the community, you have succeeded in focusing resources on those who are in need.

I know that this development is very much in keeping with the Department’s and the Health Board’s policy of developing Day Care Centres on a partnership basis – and is part of the strategic plan for the development of community facilities in the East Limerick area. As the proportion of older people within our population continues to rise, it is more and more important that the partnership between the State and voluntary groups is strengthened. The generosity of the Health Board and the Department of Health and Children, the hard work and fund raising of the Development Association, the dedicated work of Sr. Mercy O’Dea of the Sisters of Mercy and

Sr. Sheila Ryan of the Daughters of Charity have given Cappamore concrete proof of how local groups can empower their community.

One of the simplest needs of older people and people with disabilities is contact with others. Day Care Centres perform an extremely important function in this regard as they enable people to meet with their peers and also provide them with a focus for social interaction. They can also avail of practical facilities such as meals on wheels.

As the development of society means that more and more people are living in larger towns and cities – that greater emphasis is placed on giving people the means and facilities to live more active and independent lives - there is an increasing need on communities to strengthen the facilities and resources that they have so that they can keep that important sense of community. In Cappamore you have a fine example of what can be achieved through combining effort and talent and through partnership with the statutory authorities. It is a model for others to follow.

Once more, I would like to thank the Development Association for their kind invitation to attend here today. I now take great pleasure in declaring this Centre officially open.