REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE INAUGURAL LE CHÉILE TRUST CONFERENCE CITYWEST, DUBLIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE INAUGURAL LE CHÉILE TRUST CONFERENCE CITYWEST, DUBLIN FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2010
Dia dhíbh ar maidin a chairde. Is mór an onóir agus pléisúir dom bheith anseo inniu. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom. In thanking you all for that warm welcome, I’d particularly like to thank Eilis Humphreys for her kind invitation to address the inaugural conference of the Le Chéile Schools Trust. We’ve already had the opportunity to experience some of the positive outcomes of this new venture, with the beautiful singing of the Le Chéile combined choir and I know that this is but one of the many ways in which this new Trust brings together diverse talents, experience and history to build a strong, sustainable platform for the future. I’m told that some of the schools represented in the choir today don’t have their own music departments or music teachers but were able to rely on recordings prepared by other schools to reach the very high standard of performance that we’ve just heard. That itself is a powerful and practical example of the benefits of the new clusters and communities created through Le Chéile.
It is an exciting and optimistic time, for the founding of the Le Chéile trust represents a significant innovative development in the provision of Catholic education in Ireland. The story of Catholic education in Ireland is a story of our considerable indebtedness to the many priests, brothers and nuns who made the education of Ireland’s young, their life’s work. Their teaching created educational opportunities for Ireland’s children which would never have materialised without them. Their salaries were invested not in themselves but in the schools and their development. The investment made in Ireland is legion and unquantifiable. Our country’s journey from poverty to prosperity was shortened by the religious orders who brought high quality education to every corner of the country. In each generation we have seen the gradual leavening impact of their work as access widened and achievement levels soared bringing an inexorable tide of qualifications and of confidence which have been individually and collectively transformative.
Ironically just as their life’s work reveals its best harvest, Ireland’s religious orders have experienced a dramatically altered working context. Vocations in Ireland have diminished to negligible proportions, resources are scarcer and though rapidly emerging multi-faith and secular constituencies are assuming ever greater responsibility for wider, more customised choice in education providers the demand for Catholic schools remains strong and enduring. Faced with these and other realities you have brought your founding congregations together in a very positive and proactive way creating new clusters of collaborative endeavour which will ensure that your schools can not only continue into the future, but can do so dynamically and energetically fired by the charisms and rich cultures which each congregation represents but also driven by the synergies that le Cheile offers. This new partnership allows each partner to draw on the strengths, skills and talents of the other, enhancing rather than diluting the unique identity of each.
I know that many member schools have already had very emotional handover ceremonies marking the transition of trusteeship to Le Chéile. These were an opportunity for the schools and their wider communities to demonstrate the huge respect and gratitude that they have for their past heritage and traditions and to show the high regard in which the many, many years of hard work and care are held in the community. I add my voice of gratitude and praise to that already expressed by school communities across the country. There is no end point here, no finish line. This is not a moment for looking backwards and seeing closed doors. It is a time for focussing on opening the doors in the present that will let the future in. So the Trust is about today and tomorrow, about a healthy and sure future but one which readily acknowledges its indebtedness to all those whose past work built the platform from which Le Chéile is launched. Le Chéile is built on no green field site. It is built on hallowed, ancient, ground, on timeless values and legendary selflessness, on a vision for Ireland and humanity that is grounded in the belief that working together we can heal this broken world. Your starting point is the education of our children. We have seen the enormous benefits this country has harvested from widened access to education and importantly access to high quality education. You have been crucial drivers of quality education and enhanced quality of life for countless Irish men and women. Through Le Chéile you are ensuring that into the future, your school communities will offer the very best education to the pupils from all backgrounds and of all abilities whose parents place their trust in you. In these tougher economic times where so many families are facing the added stress of unemployment, debt and the threat of marginalisation the schools you provide are oases of hope and equality of opportunity. Your name tells them powerfully that they are not alone, that securing their children’s best future is a shared responsibility and one best tackled together- Le Chéile.
There will always be Louis girls and boys and Lasallians but a new generation will be able to add the “Le Chéile” link to their chain of identity. They say that what is learnt in childhood is engraved in stone. Engraving is an art and a science- it calls for skills, patience and the pursuit of perfection. You have between you generations of experience of engraving well and that is the distilled fuel which today is used to launch Le Chéile and which will sustain Le Chéile on the journey ahead. I wish you every success with the precious mission of engraving well on our children’s lives. I hope you all enjoy the conference and I wish you all well in your work together for many years ahead. Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.