REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF COLM CILLE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF COLM CILLE AT THE TOWER MUSEUM, DERRY
A dhaoine uaisle, a chairde,
Tá áthas orm bheith anseo i bhur measc inniú. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iul daoibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to visit lovely Derry again and to launch the virtual museum of Colm Cille. I would like to thank Pat Ramsey and the City Council for the kind invitation and this warm welcome.
In his lovely poem An Tobar, the Donegal poet Cathal O’Searcaigh talks of the changes wrought in his quiet rural world by the coming of piped water. He says this
“But this long time, piped water from distant hills
Sneaks into every kitchen
On both sides of the glen;
Water spurts from a tap
Mawkish, without sparkle,
Zestless as slops
And among my people
The springwell is being forgotten.”
A few weeks ago I walked the roads near Croghan in County Roscommon on a very warm day. Towards the end of the six mile walk I came past a neighbour’s house and he invited us in for a cup of tea. We were all so thirsty we asked for water instead. He drew it from his spring well and I still remember its astonishing taste. We started to reminisce about times past and how rapidly change can overwhelm us making past history of things once part of our thinking, our landscape our understanding of ourselves. Cathal’s poem came to my mind and in particular the last line of that poem where he says - There will have to be a going back to sources -.
We all know the day of piped water is here to stay. The day of the car, the internet, the television have seen off the day of the pony and trap, the day of barn dances and whist drives. Yet these worlds are built on each other. In a country where we are often accused of too much focus on the baleful side of the past how important is it that we keep in touch with tradition. Octavio Paz, Mexico’s great Nobel laureate says - that when tradition and modernity “are mutually isolated, tradition stagnates and modernity vaporizes”. Join them however and “modernity breathes life into tradition and tradition responds by providing depth and gravity”.
Here is a classic example of modernity breathing life into tradition and tradition deepening our understanding of ourselves. Your new venture, the digital virtual museum, in honour of Derry’s patron saint, Saint Colm Cille uses the most advanced modern technology to retell the story of Colm Cille, giving that story new life and vibrancy, freshening it and widening its access to a new generation. Colm Cille’s story is one of the wells we need to revisit particularly at this time of hope when we are challenged as a predominantly Christian community to find the charity to change, the courage to forgive, the grace to love, concepts Colm Cille has much to offer us despite the centuries between his world and ours.
I would like to pay tribute to all involved with this project. It is a successful union of true cross–border co-operation and cross community partnership, involving both Donegal and Derry City Councils, Inishowen Rural Development Limited, Co-Operation Ireland and the Northern Museums Councils and of course the young multimedia experts of the Nerve Centre. The teamwork which produced this project is an important story in itself. It tells us how much we can accomplish when we pool our talents. It tells us how friendships grow, how respect for each other’s talents grows, how we grow in understanding that each brings his or her unique gifts and talents and out of the mix comes something much greater than the sum of the parts, but something each can own and feel proud of. It could be a metaphor for the future we all wish for on this island - a place where talent and energy is released into a common pool, a new well, a resource put at the service of all our people, to feed a shared future we can all take pride in.
This Tower Museum tells many of the stories of this city and this island, of the diverse strands that have become woven together over the years into the complex tapestry that is present-day Derry. With its ancient walls and spectacular settings there is much to tell some of it happy and some of it sad, days of hope, days of despair. The Tower Museum with its thoughtful interpretation of Derry’s complex and difficult past, charts Derry’s development from its origins from the Oak Grove to the turbulence of more recent times, to the development of today’s modern vibrant and forward looking European city. The story of Derry is inspirational. There is no give-uppery here but a determination to make the best of its resources and make Derry the best it can be.
The level of commitment and imagination on the part of Dermot Francis and the staff of the Tower Museum is evident in all we can see around us and it is marvellous to see that work rewarded and recognised as it has been in the number of awards it has achieved in the past few years, including both the Irish and UK Museum of the Year Awards.
I join you here in Derry today at a time of hope and renewal for all the people of Ireland. We can feel the undertow of change. We know we are capable of creating a better future. Where there is a will there is a way. The way forward is the Good Friday Agreement and the will of the people is the wind at its back. Now that the political institutions have been restored the work of creating a just and equal society, at ease with its neighbours and with itself has at last begun in earnest. Great courage and determination have taken us this far and we will need more of it in the days ahead on this healing journey towards harmony and reconciliation.
The indomitable spirit of the people of Derry is a well we all draw from. The past is done. It cannot be undone but it can be redeemed by forgiveness and insistence on the sacred birthright of each human being - entitlement to respect and equality. The people of Derry are champions of this new future decent people everywhere believe in and hope in. May it bring many new stories to be told in this place. May it open up many new wells to deepen us and help us discern our destiny as children of God.
I would like to congratulate everyone associated with today’s launch of the Colm Cille Millennium Celebrations and it gives me great pleasure to officially open the virtual museum of Colm Cille.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir.