REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW CRICKLEWOOD HOMELESS CONCERN CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW CRICKLEWOOD HOMELESS CONCERN CENTRE, LONDON THURSDAY, 20 NOV
Distinguished guests, and members of the community.
Dia dhíbh a cháirde go léir. Tá mé iontach sásta bheith anseo libh inniu agus táim thar a bheith buíoch as ucht an fáilte is fiche a chuir sibh romhaim agus roimh m’fhear chéile Máirtín.
I’m not the first to say the craic was good in Cricklewood but I am sure all of us here feel it is the best place to be today. I know I feel it a real privilege to be officially opening Cricklewood Homeless Concern’s new centre with its lovely facilities and especially its warm welcome for those who cross its threshold in need of its services.
This building is designed first and foremost with service users in mind. It will be not just a building to them but a home and not just a room among strangers but a place at the heart of a caring community. A lot of thought and thoughtfulness has gone into the design and the décor and just as much thought and thoughtfulness has gone into the kind of care service users will experience from the wonderful dedicated, professional team of workers and of volunteers.
Many of our large Irish Community in London found their way to Cricklewood and Kilburn for they knew that here they would hear familiar voices, meet people from home and be welcomed as family and as clan. Those supports were so important especially during the lean years of huge migration from Ireland when there was so little economic opportunity at home. Ireland’s emigrant family helped one another to cope and between them they made a huge contribution to many aspects of life in Britain. Today over 100 MPs are of Irish background and Irish men and women and their families are to be found in every walk of life. The vast majority got on well but, as in every family, there were those who faced major difficulties in their lives and we know that the strains of emigrant life, for some, ended up in a struggle with isolation, mental ill-health, substance abuse and homelessness.
But the culture of care for one another is still very robust and very much alive and, over many visits to Britain over the years, I have seen time and again how our big Irish family keeps watch over its care and, in particular, those in most need of looking after. Often too, as here in Cricklewood, they extend their helping hand to other nationalities who face some of the familiar problems faced by emigrant minorities. It was local Irish parishioners who twenty-five years ago founded Cricklewood Homeless Concern. They didn’t have to do it. There was no law forcing them to do it except the law of that great commandment to love one another. What started as a modest volunteer soup kitchen has metamorphosed by sheer commitment into the modern, dedicated centre that today provides professional services including housing, substance abuse and mental health services to whoever among the Irish needs those services and to those among newly arrived immigrant populations regardless of where they are from.
The story of Cricklewood Homeless Concern is one that lifts our hearts and gives us pride and hope in the goodness of humanity for it took a lot of heavy lifting to raise the funds, to get the partnerships, to interest the sponsors, to build the team and to develop and sustain really good services. Thanks have to go to that energetic Limerick man, Chief Executive Danny Maher. His fundraising efforts are legendary and the evidence of his success is surely in. It is no easy task to bring on board help from local government, the British and Ireland Governments, from the private sector and the community. They need to be convinced and persuaded and this is a very convincing and persuasive place. The bricks and mortar are first-class and so respectful of those who use the place. It’s a place that takes their dignity seriously, a place that tells them how valued they are, how loved they are and how much of a contribution they can make to strengthening their own lives and the lives of those around them.
To Danny and all the team, continued success. To those for whom the centre exists I hope it will be a place that brings them real hope and opportunity to flourish, to put bad days behind them and to look forward to the good days to come. Thank you once again for inviting Martin and I to be part of this special day that you have all worked so hard to achieve. Enjoy it and enjoy this hard-earned silver anniversary. May the next 25 years bring even more encouraging stories of what kindness and care can accomplish.
Gurb fada buan sibh ‘s go raibh míle, míle maith agaibh.