REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE GALA BANQUET CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE GALA BANQUET CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, GALWAY UCG
- Dr Fottrell, Distinguished Guests, A chairde.
- It is an honour and pleasure for me to join you here this evening, 150 years to the day since the first students enrolled in this university. This celebration is made all the more special by the presence of a number of direct descendants of some of the first students and Professors, many of whom have travelled long distances to be with us today. I would like to extend a very warm ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’ to them, and to all of the distinguished guests who are here to celebrate the University’s unique contribution to Irish life, past and present.
- In his famous essay, ‘The Idea of a University’, John Henry Cardinal Newman had this to say:
‘The general principles of any study you may learn by books at home; but the detail, the colour, the tone, the air, the life which makes it live in us, you must catch all these from those in whom it lives already.’ At the very heart of his idea of a university was not the beautiful buildings, the great library, the range of textbooks, the passing of exams - but the human beings, the teachers, those people who have inspired generations of students with their knowledge and passion and commitment.
- That quote is central to what we are celebrating here this evening – 150 years, not of the establishment of the University of Ireland, Galway, itself – but rather of the establishment of teaching here. That distinction is an important one, for even in these days of the Internet, when we are surrounded by information, the role of the teacher is as valid, perhaps even more important, than ever. For teaching at its best is not simply about imparting information, citing references, enabling students to pass their exams. It is concerned to a far greater extent with unlocking the potential and imagination of a young student. And we should never underestimate the potential that such an experience has in terms of transforming young – and sometimes not so young -lives. I do not mean that lives are changed in an instantaneous, dramatic way – I am sure that the experience of most lecturers is that the number of Pauline-like conversions is greatly outweighed by the number of baffled expressions on the faces of their students. But those students who have been fortunate enough to have had a university lecturer who stretched them intellectually, who taught them not how to learn, but how to think, to question, to seize opportunities, to have a sense of curiosity, of purpose and of determination – those are the individuals who have received the best possible education and the best possible preparation for life. They are the ones will ultimately succeed, no matter what career path they choose. They are the ones who will become the leaders and ‘doers’ of tomorrow, the people who shape the world around them, the people that our society needs more than ever. And many graduates of this university have indeed achieved outstanding success in the public sector, business world and cultural sphere of this society and beyond.
- Those generations of students, past and present, at this university are indeed blessed to have had the privilege of encountering so many Professors and lecturers who cared so deeply about what they taught and about the people they taught. More often that not, that dedication and commitment may have gone unnoticed and unmarked, overshadowed by the unending cycle of lectures, research, meetings and exams. That day-to-day work is at the core of what this university is about. But every so often, I believe it is important to stop for a moment on evenings such as this, to remind ourselves of how much has been achieved here over the years, accomplishments which have been painstakingly and quietly built up over the years and whose true extent is only apparent when we stop to reflect and take stock. The knowledge that what you do here is important and does make a difference is a vital source of energy for recharging your batteries, for overcoming the inevitable disappointments or setbacks that arise from time to time, for picking yourselves back up and facing a new day, a new year and a new generation of students with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and passion.
- Sometimes it may seem that the fruits of your labour are in vain, that the love of learning, of intellectual discourse, of truth, of caring about knowledge as a value unto itself has been drowned out by utilitarian concerns, the points system, exam results, employment prospects. Yet such portents of doom have been with us for a very long time. Back in the 17th century, the great Irish poet, Dáibhí Ó Bruadair was already mourning the seemingly irreversible decline of learning and knowledge, summed up in the following lament from his poem ‘D’aithle na bhFileadh’:
- ‘D’aithle na bhfileadh dár ionnmhas éigse is iúl
is mairg de-chonnairc an chinneamháin d’eirigh dhúinn:
a leabhair ag titim i leimhe ‘s léithe i gcúil
‘s ag macaibh na droinge gan siolla dá séadaibh rún’
- (After those poets, for whom art and knowledge were wealth,
alas to have lived to see this fate befall us:
their books in corners greying into nothing
and their sons without one syllable of their secret treasure)
- For his generation, all hope seemed an illusion. In the misery of seeing the apparent death of their culture, their life, it seemed to them that they had planted the seeds of their great tradition, their love of learning, on barren ground. How proud, how amazed he would be if he were to return to see this university today, celebrating 150 years as a powerhouse of intellect, culture and teaching. For the seeds that O’Bruadair sowed did indeed take root and flourish, and are thriving today in this university. Just as the seeds of learning that you sow, however apparently unfruitful the soil, will take root and blossom in ways and in places that are as yet unknown to us.
- One contribution that deserves particular mention is the very special role this University has played in fostering the Irish language as a living and vibrant part of the life of this college, this city and this country. It is no co-incidence that Galway is now the centre of a thriving Irish language television and film production industry, which draws strength and vigour from this university. That vibrancy is the best possible answer to those who continue to predict the death of the Irish language, indeed of a distinct Irish culture as a whole as Ó Bruadair feared.
- I would like to thank Dr Fottrell, Dr Ruth Curtis – who is, of course, a member of the Council of State – John Sweeney and all of the organising committee for inviting me to this wonderful celebration of 150 years of teaching at this university. I know that you have many other plans in the pipeline to make the next century and a half just as successful, and I wish you every success in the sowing and reaping of knowledge and learning in the years ahead.
- Go n-éirí go geal libh. Go raibh maith agaibh.