REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT CASTLETOWN TIDY TOWNS EVENT CASTLETOWN, CO. LAOIS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT CASTLETOWN TIDY TOWNS EVENT CASTLETOWN, CO. LAOIS SUNDAY, 27 APRIL, 2003
Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo libh inniu agus muid ag céiliúradh an ócáid mhór seo. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as an gcuireadh agus as fáilte a bhí caoin, cneasta agus croíúil.
Nature has been kind to Castletown, giving it a beautiful setting that many would envy. That natural beauty is a good start and as the old Irish seanfhocal says - Tus maith is leath na hoibre. But it is only half of the work. The other half is the hard work that brought Castletown success in the National Tidy Towns Competition. You faced 700 competitors and that gives us some idea of just how much sheer effort it took to rise to the top. So Castletown has been doubly fortunate - to have been given such a lovely environment by both geography and history and to have a dedicated group of volunteers in the community who cherish that legacy with such devotion and imagination.
The visitor to Castletown sees the sculpted Failte in the immaculate boxed hedge, the manicured village green, the remains of the de Lacy castle, the shining weir and salmon leap. These things create an enchanting atmosphere and manys a special memory but you know better than anyone that they are not simply the result of a burst of tidying, trimming, and painting during the summer months. This level of excellence is the result of steady, planned year round effort, year in and year out. There have been years of disappointment that didn’t discourage you but made you determined to do even better and now there is the year of joy. Today is a day to take righteous pride in what you have accomplished, to remember all the meetings, the arguments, the persuadings, the cajolings, the fundraising, the hard labour, the doubts, the determination and to see in them the necessary rite of passage to this special day. It was not an easy journey. It took a lot of courage and faith qualities which your Tidy Towns Committee have proved they have in abundance. The leadership of people like our MC, Sean Fleming, his wife Mary, Muriel Wall-Coughlan and the Castletown Tidy Towns team has made Castletown the national standard setter and you can be sure that Committees the length and breath of the country are right now learning from your experience as they try to become the best in the 2003 competition.
That kind of community leadership can change the face of a community and change its fortunes. It can inspire a community to new self-belief and self-confidence but of course it can only succeed as you have where there is widespread community support and an active community spirit.
W. B. Yeats tells us “In dreams begins responsibility”. His words remind us that if we dare to imagine how things should be and could be we must also dare to be the changers and the doers. It’s always easier to walk past litter than to pick it up, easier to leave the paintwork to flake than to get the paintbrushes out, easier to say “why doesn’t someone do something about this or that” rather than say “Let’s sort this out ourselves.”
Here in Castletown you dreamed of a place whose intrinsic beauty could be made to shine with a remarkable and a special gloss and you took on the responsibility of making the dream real. From humble beginnings in 1983 with 103 marks, to a superb 267 in 2002, Castletown has gradually revealed its dream. You were the overall winner in the 2001 Ireland’s Best Kept Towns competition and of course the first to bring the coveted bronze plaque of the Tidy Towns Competition back to County Laois. I congratulate you for what you have achieved and thank you on behalf of everyone, visitor and resident who will benefit from what you have done for your community, your environment. What you have created is a great generous gift at the heart of Laois and at the heart of Ireland.
Today is your day. A day to celebrate your victory and the national recognition of your achievements. Thank you for inviting me to join in the fun and the festivities. They were hard earned, enjoy them.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.