REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VETERINARY PROFESSION RDS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE VETERINARY PROFESSION RDS
Dia dhíbh a chairde and thank you to Dr. Lindy Vaughan, President of the Veterinary Council of Ireland, for inviting me to share this celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the veterinary profession. I don’t know if it was a forceps delivery or a natural birth but we do know that it was a momentous occasion and that this anniversary is being celebrated by vets and hopefully pets all over the world.
Few sciences can pinpoint their start date with the kind of forensic accuracy that you can. The first school of veterinary medicine set up in Lyon in 1761 was strongly linked to the strategic importance of the cavalry horse to the success of the armies of France. That context vanished but the profession grew, developed and expanded so that today it is of seminal strategic importance to countries like Ireland where the agri-food sector and the safety of our food chain, is hugely important for our economy and way of life.
It was some considerable time before Ireland could boast its own Veterinary College with the opening in 1900 of the Royal Veterinary College of Ireland at Ballsbridge and indeed it remains the case that Dublin is home to this island’s only Veterinary College. Long before cross-border cooperation became common currency, vets from all parts of this island trained together in this city ensuring the kind of friendships and networks that have made for a well integrated profession across the whole island.
The technologies have changed vastly, the education has changed exponentially, the gender balance has altered visibly and the shape of today’s profession would likely be completely unrecognisable to those eighteenth-century predecessors. But the underpinning value system that links today’s vet to those first vets of 1761 is a passionate care for the welfare of animals and that has not changed.
Most of us grew up with the idyllic pastoral images of the life of a vet from All Creatures Great and Small or Doctor Dolittle, but with little real awareness of the breadth and depth of the role you play in public health as well as in animal welfare. We are indebted to you for the work you do in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including those transmissible to humans, in food production, food safety and secure animal traceability. We are indebted for the research that has advanced both human and animal healthcare. Whether you work in the public service or in private practice, we are indebted for your diligence and vigilance which are an essential part of the infrastructure that allows us enjoy safe food at home and to be a major exporter of dairy and meat products.
Claude Bourgelat, the founder of the first school in Lyon, required of his graduates among other things that they ‘prove by their behaviour that they are all equally convinced that riches lie less in the goods one possesses than the good one can do’. It was and remains a noble professional ethic and perhaps explains why the English term “vetting” has evolved from describing the veterinary examination of racing horses to a word of more general usage, synonymous with an honest and independent assessment. Today you operate to an international code of practice designed to ensure that the world food chain is kept as safe as possible by robust principles, practices and procedures that are honoured by the entire profession. Each vet has made a considerable personal investment in education, training and continuous education. For some it is a job with normal working hours in pleasant clinic surroundings. For others it is an on-call job that demands considerable stamina and the ability to put up with rough, unpredictable conditions. There are specialists and generalists and a growing range of disciplines and career options within the profession. You may be the trusted practitioner who cares for the beloved family pet, the knowledgeable expert who ensures the health of our valued herds of livestock, the highly-trained specialist who cares for world-beating racehorses or even camels as I discovered in Oman, the wise advisor who can guide us on wildlife policy, the innovative scientist making exciting new advances that will benefit human and animal health. Whether working in Ireland or abroad, our vets make us proud because of the good they do and keep on doing in a line of tradition and service that two hundred and fifty years ago insisted from the outset on a profession underpinned by strong ethical values.
Who could ever hope to quantify the generations of good you have invested in Irish life – that would be impossible to do, but we can at least use this sestercentennial celebration to thank you for making this profession your vocation and for making service of Ireland’s animal, food and human welfare your solemn responsibility.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.