REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE GOOD COUNSEL TRAINING WORKSHOP
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE GOOD COUNSEL TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR EARLY SCHOOL LEAVERS
Cuireann sé áthas ar mo chroí bheith anseo libh inniu agus tá mé thar a bheith buíoch díbh go léir as an chuireadh a thug sibh dom.
I am delighted to be here today to open this outstanding new training centre for early school leavers here in Oliver Bond St. I would like to thank everyone in the South Inner City Community Development Association, and especially Fr. Michael Mernagh – who unfortunately is not able to be with us today – for inviting me here and for the warm welcome you have given me.
This Association – SICCDA – is a very important organisation – not just because of what you do – vital though that is – but because of who you are. Since your establishment way back in 1982, you have given a voice to local people of this area, to people who know what social exclusion is from their everyday experience. They are people who were often silenced in the past by their lack of access, and because they lacked the language with which to express their needs and fears.
What you have done through SICCDA, is enable local people to speak for themselves - to be a part of the solution – rather than being seen as the problem. You have enabled them to take control of their lives and their circumstances, to gain the right to be consulted, to realise that a better life of dignity and decency is possible – and that they can make it possible for this community.
That does not mean that there is a magic wand you can wave to make all problems disappear. This community still faces the scourge of poverty and unemployment, drugs and alcohol abuse, lack of educational opportunities. There is no shortage of statistics which show the depths of real need that exist. And behind those statistics lie the stories of wasted talent, lost opportunities, heartbreak and despair. Those stories are all the more painful when contrasted with the increasing prosperity and hope which our country has experienced in recent years. We can be proud of our achievements but we must not fall into the trap of complacency, of ignoring the fact that for so many of our people, that prosperity and the opportunities it brings, belong to a different world - tantalisingly close and yet impossibly distant.
This Association has done so much to bridge that gap, to bring back hope into the lives of local people and to ensure that this generation is the one in which we really tackle poverty and exclusion. We owe it to communities such as this and we owe it to ourselves as a society, to pursue that goal of equal access, because we need the talents and energy of all our people. How many lives have already gone by only half-lived because of lack of opportunity, support, encouragement? How many more will go the same way unless we do something to make a difference, unless we realise that all of us are the poorer if some of us are left behind?
It is especially important that we target our efforts at young people, to reach them before their hope, confidence and self-esteem are drained away in the face of closed doors and closed minds. I am particularly delighted therefore to open this new training centre for early school leavers, which will enable you to continue and build on the extraordinary work that has already been done in this community for many years. I would like to wish all the trainees – some of whom I had the pleasure of meeting earlier – the very best of luck in their future work. They deserve great credit for having the courage and initiative to take up this opportunity.
I would like to warmly commend everyone involved in the South Inner City Community Development Association for all your hard work and dedication in getting this new Centre and your many other initiatives off the ground. I know that many people in the Liberties area and further afield have given of their time and energy to make this Association such a success – your Chairman, Liam Fenlon; your Treasurer, Nell Carley; all the Board Members; the Manager, Tony Hannon and the staff of this centre. I would also like to thank Dublin Inner City Partnership, the VEC and the many other organisations who have supported you in your work.
I wish you continued success in the years ahead, in this centre and in all of your work.
Is mór an chúis mhisnigh dom an méid atá feicthe agam anseo. Gura fada buan sibh.