REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR DEAF PEOPLE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR DEAF PEOPLE AND NATIONAL COUNCIL
Tá lúcháir mhór orm bheith i bhur measc inniu ag an ócáid speisialta seo agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl díbh don fáilte a raibh fíor agus flaithiúil.
I am truly delighted to be here with you today for the official opening of your new Sensory Resource Centre and I am particularly grateful to Sandra O’Brien, Deputy Chief Executive with the National Association for Deaf People (NAD) for inviting me to be part of this celebration. I have the privilege of being invited to attend many openings and they are always terrific occasions of great pride and hope but none more so than this and none closer to my heart than those which celebrate new developments for families who are faced with a world where being “different” can cause so much unnecessary angst and exclusion.
My own home life, as sister to a profoundly deaf brother gave me a little bit of insight into that world, its difficulties, its complexity, its loneliness, its marginality. So I welcome the many changes which have bridged those old gaps and challenged old thinking, old presumptions. We have learnt a lot in recent years about the ways in which society has often through ignorance or misguided good-intentions, failed to recognise that the full dignity and human rights of our people were not being acknowledged. Now we know that every life wasted through lack of opportunity causes a huge loss not just to that human person but to every one of us. Our best natural resource on this island and on this planet is the giftedness, the unique giftedness of every human being. We have all seen too much of that resource wasted. That is why centres such as this are so important for they provide real and practical local support so that every individual can feel the strength and confidence that comes from being centre stage. Thanks to you many individuals will know the joy of enhanced career opportunities and new life options. So while it was a struggle to get this far, today’s opening is not the end of a story of struggle but the beginning of a great adventure. It is a celebration and an affirmation in many ways of the work that is being done to build the fullest social inclusion and equal status for deaf and visually impaired people.
The centre is also a real example of the formidable power of partnership and cross institutional collaboration, a witness to what can happen when people start to think outside of their own organizational box.
A couple of years ago scientists in the field of genetics in Dublin announced the discovery of a gene associated with a rare and cruel childhood illness. They had devoted over a quarter of a century to their research and were rightly delighted at this important breakthrough, but it was how they made the breakthrough rather than the discovery itself which I found most reassuring and challenging. The director of the research told how his team of scientists was only one of many working across the globe in an effort to find this elusive gene. Naturally each team wanted to be the first to make the discovery. They worked in competition not in collaboration with each other. His team had made certain discoveries which they were at pains to conceal from the other teams in case it would give them the edge. One day, he said it hit him that every other team was doing the very same, hiding from each other information they alone had discovered. He suggested to the other teams that they should all collaborate. The others agreed. Suddenly as each put on the table their own package of information, the gaps in the jigsaw puzzle suddenly filled in, bits that made no sense on their own found a match and the gene revealed itself, opening up new hope and a new future.
And so it is here - a new era of collaboration has created something very special and meaningful. I would like to commend the National Association for Deaf People (NAD), the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) and the South Eastern Health Board for the way in which they have supported this shared initiative and for their generosity in working so effectively with one another.
I would like to thank the very many other organisations and individuals, volunteers and staff whose hearts and hands have gone into this project. They did none of it for thanks but today are entitled to our gratitude for this did not happen by accident or coincidence but by sheer hard graft. What drives that work is a deep rooted ambition for our country, to make it a place where every human being can flourish, where each is empowered to live a fulfilled life, a nation of equals, a country fuelled by the unique talents of all its citizens. May I congratulate you on all that you do to keep nudging us towards the “true social order” our Constitution speaks of. I wish you every success in the years ahead.
Go n-éirí go geal libh. Go raibh maith agaibh.