REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, CLONTARF CASTLE HOTEL
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, CLONTARF CASTLE HOTEL SATURDAY, 5TH MARCH, 2011
Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo i bhur measc inniu. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin agus cneasta.
I am delighted to be here today to address you for the opening of this convention and would like to thank the District Convention Chair, Patrick O’Donnell for inviting me. I am also very honoured to be receiving the International President’s award which I accept with great pride and gratitude.
Henrik Ibsen once said that ‘A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.’ The Lions Club in Ireland comprises 2,700 people who are prepared to do just that - to take the helm, steer the ship and improve life for their communities. However, the Lions Club is not simply a national organisation; it is also a huge global community spread across 200 countries and comprising 1.3 million members helping, not just their own local communities, but communities where people are suffering from poverty and hardship on a scale that some of us can only imagine. The Lions Club embodies the true meaning of the word ‘community’ which translates as ‘com’ meaning ‘together’ and ’munus’ meaning ‘obligation’. In other words, a mutual obligation that binds us to our neighbours - both immediate and distant - through common humanity and reciprocal solidarity.
There can be little doubt that life in Ireland has changed significantly in recent decades. Small corner shops have given way to large supermarkets, village streets have been replaced by busy shopping centres, longer working hours and heavier commutes have become the norm and technological advancement has given us the ability to interact with people all over the world without even leaving our own sitting room. Not all of this change has, of course, been negative. Some of it has been essential as Ireland plays its part in a global economy and some of it has indeed been life enhancing. But much of it has meant that playing a full part in our communities must now be a conscious effort, a decision to get up, go out and make a difference.
One of the real privileges of my time as President has been to meet so many volunteers who do just that. Witnessing at first hand the wonderful work they do and the genuine difference they make to the lives of so many people is always an uplifting experience. During that time I have attended many Lions Club events and have seen the support you give to the homeless, the respite to the elderly, the companionship to the lonely, and the many, many ways in which you make a difference to the lives of others. The Lions Club members, like all volunteers, have not been forced or compelled to give up their time and skills, but have offered them generously and willingly. Like all volunteers, they are unsung heroes, and heroines looking for no reward and no recognition, as they quietly and with big hearts reach out a hand of friendship and help, yet acknowledging with gratitude that from their experience as volunteers they know the truth and worth of the assertion that “it is in giving that we receive.”
Many of the Lions Club members are people with hugely demanding jobs, family commitments, problems of their own to cope with, things to do, people to see, places to be, but they still manage to squeeze out that extra bit of time for their community. Time to fund raise or organise youth exchange programmes, to develop a school orchestra, ensure families have enough to eat at Christmas or to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol abuse. In their busy lives, they are never too busy to be concerned about the homeless or the elderly or to offer a helping hand to those struggling with illiteracy, or to encourage and inspire our young people to develop their sense of community and their leadership skills. In small ways and big ways they help individuals to get through life and help communities to cope well with life’s ups and downs. Those few precious hours of volunteer time given each week or each month gross up to a massive resource, a huge dynamic that as mother Teresa once said is unpaid not because it is worthless but because it is priceless.
There is an old Irish saying, "You'll never plough a field by turning it over in your mind". Volunteers like yourselves are life’s 'doers' - rather than the well-intentioned dreamers - the problem solvers rather than the cynics. You believe in community - you believe that we were not intended to be strangers to one another, inhabiting separate orbits and spheres, passing each other by on our streets with no interest in one another, no sense of good neighbourliness, no smile of recognition, no handshake of help or welcome.
Each act of voluntary participation helps to form the cement that binds and unifies our society - makes neighbours and friends out of strangers, unites us in a common purpose, to do what we can to improve the quality of life of humankind and in particular to take on the burden of care for those to whom life has been cruel or unkind. This is active citizenship at its absolute best for through the Lions what you do is not sporadic or occasional or irregular but organised, dependable, here for the long haul.
Communities that are strong and well integrated thanks to coherent, consistent volunteer effort are good healthy places to grow up and to live. What is true locally is also true globally. Global economic and political events have brought home to us just how closely intertwined are the fates of the nations of the world. To the extent that we work well with one another our world is strong, to the extent that we allow ignorance of one another to fester, our world is weak and vulnerable. We belong to that global community just as much as to our own neighbourhood and the Lions Club’s international outreach helps us not alone to fulfil Ireland’s obligation to the global community but to grow in the kind of solidarity that creates friendship and mutual understanding.
None of you had to join Lions. No law compelled you to do so, except the law of human decency. What you have given I know has been returned many times over in the personal fulfilment, the fun, the friendships and the peace of heart that comes from leaving your comfort zone to bring comfort to others. Who could ever count the thanks that you are due. No Lion would ever wish to but on this day I offer you my thanks for all you do. There are no redundancy packages for volunteers, just a job for life if you want it. I wish you well in your endeavours, be they large or small, to make our communities, our country and our world a better place to live for all - bail ó Dhia ar an obair!