REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CONVENT LAWNS COMMUNITY CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CONVENT LAWNS COMMUNITY CENTRE, BALLYFERMOT, DUBLIN
Tá gliondar orm bheith anseo i bhur measc inniu agus tá mé thar a bheith buíoch díbh as an chuireadh.
I am delighted to be here this afternoon to officially open the Convent Lawns Community Centre and I am grateful to Sr. Phil O'Daly for her kind invitation on behalf of the Community and Development Group.
The provision of this type of community facility as part of a new housing development is very welcome and Dublin Corporation is to be congratulated for its farsighted approach in this regard. This approach recognises that housing is not just a matter of providing shelter. If an estate is to be more than a collection of individual houses, it needs to have a centre, a focal point where people can come together, share their concerns, and work together as a real community. This centre, and the whole partnership approach which has been adopted here, is fundamentally about giving back to people control over their own lives and enabling them to become active participants in managing their estate in conjunction with the Corporation.
I have heard that you have already made great strides in a very short time working with Sr. O'Daly. Those of you who undertook the course of pre-tenancy training are to be congratulated, because I know it required a significant commitment from everyone concerned. But there is no doubt that this effort paid off, leading to the formation of your resident's committee and a number of sub-committees to deal with specific issues including the management of this community centre. Availing of the experiences of local people, and developing your ability to be fully involved in efforts to tackle local issues, enables everyone to have a real say in the future of their community. I hope that as many of you as possible take that opportunity to get involved and make your voice heard. There is never any shortage of people to say what should be done – but it is the people who actually do something about it, that make the real difference in any community.
The excellent relationship that has developed here in Convent Lawns between the residents and Dublin Corporation is an example of what can be achieved when people enter into genuine partnership. It is an approach that can be of immense value to all concerned and I welcome the fact that there are plans to extend the scheme to other areas of Ballyfermot.
I know that changing people’s perceptions and attitudes is never easy, that schemes such as this take a great deal of effort to get off the ground and that problems will arise from time to time. This makes what you have achieved here all the more remarkable. Participation challenges the traditional role of everyone involved, including tenants themselves. It raises the prospect that attitudes need to change on both sides and decisions altered as a result. It recognises the fact that tenants also have skills and knowledge that must be availed of. From what I have learned from my visit today it is clear that both the residents of Convent Lawn and the local authority have faced up to these challenges and are meeting them successfully.
I know that there are further plans in the pipeline to improve the facilities and services in this part of Dublin, through a whole range of programmes involving local community groups, the Gardai, VECs, the Eastern Health Board, FAS, and the Local Drugs Task Force. I welcome the fact that many of these initiatives are targeted at young people, what we invest in the young today, will pay us back a hundredfold in the future.
This Community Centre is a wonderful start. I would like to warmly thank Dublin Corporation once again for their initiative in bringing this excellent project to fruition. Most of all, I would like to congratulate Gerry Watkins, Celine McAdams, Jackie Guy and everyone in the Residents Association for their determination and commitment to make this a place that everyone can be proud of.
It is my great pleasure to officially open this Community Centre.
Go n-eirí go geal libh sa todhchaí