REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW SANDYMOUNT CLINIC AND SCHOOL
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW SANDYMOUNT CLINIC AND SCHOOL, SANDYMOUNT AVENUE
- Tá lucháir mhór orm bheith anseo libh inniu, agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl díbh don fáilte a raibh fíor, fairsing agus flaithiúil.
- I am delighted to join you on this wonderful occasion to celebrate the opening of the new clinic, and school and to launch Enable Ireland, the name by which Cerebral Palsy Ireland will be known in the new Millennium. I am very proud to be here as Patron of this remarkable Association as you mark these important and hard-earned milestones.
- What a long way it is from that first milestone in 1948 when the organisation first began in a single room in the Orthopaedic Clinic in Merrion Road. I don’t think you could get a more modest start than that! Half a century later you can look with pride at one of the principal voluntary agencies in the country, a trailblazer in providing services and raising awareness of the needs and rights of people with disabilities in this country. There was no giant leap involved, rather you grew step by step driven by the energy, commitment and generosity of many very fine people.
- And now you have reflected deeply on those years of effort, years of achievement when you grew in wisdom and experience. You have taken stock, distilled that wisdom and charted a fresh course for the future. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, there is an famous quote ‘what’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’.
You beg to differ. What is true of roses may not be true of organisations. So why did this organisation at this juncture decide to become “Enable Ireland”?
In the dictionary enable is defined as ‘providing someone with the means or opportunity to do something’ and ‘to make possible’. Empowerment, entitlement, liberation through facilitation are all inherent in that simple word “Enable”. I can think of no better statement by any voluntary organisation than that it seeks to clearly define itself, not in relation to a condition, to a disability, but to a positive life enhancing force, to the ability to develop each individuals full potential, to discover and help liberate each individual’s true worth, irrespective of their condition. The new name is not a description it is a challenge and an assertion. It has an energy about it that is undeniable and will I am sure serve you well as you plan for the next half century.
As the Association has grown and developed over the last half century, the services provided for children and adults have been immensely enriched by the expertise of a wide range of professionals. Teachers, Care-workers, Nurses, Doctors, Physiotherapists, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists and Psychologists have made invaluable contributions facilitated, of course, by dedicated administrators and technical support personnel and underpinned by the commitment of parents, volunteers and the community.
In return, all these devoted professionals have been immeasurably enriched by their experiences in Sandymount. They have found here a profound source of professional development and an incalculable pool of knowledge and expertise which has enhanced their respective professions and spread their influence throughout Ireland and beyond.
That you aspire to the highest standards is evident in this new building. The furnishing and equipping of both Clinic and School can truly be described as state-of-the-art and I am delighted to see that you have made provision for the use of the most up-to-date information and communication technology.
Such technology holds out tremendous potential for the enhancement of the lives of our brothers and sisters with disabilities by allowing them to access and develop their skills in ways which are exciting and innovative. One of the great challenges facing those who will work in this building, those who will use its educational and therapy services and those who will guide and support the Association in the years ahead, will be to harness this potential and make it work really effectively to enable those who use our services to achieve the maximum independence, choice and inclusion in their own communities.
This building brings with it a sense of achievement and more than that a lot of hope. Lives will be changed here - and for the better. The community of the disabled and those who love and care for them will be reassured that their place in modern Ireland is in the front row. Just how important the facilities here are was borne in on me lately when I received a letter from a woman who like so many others travels a long way to use the hydrotherapy pool on this campus. She told me just how grateful she is for such a facility and how overwhelmed by the unfailing kindness of the staff.
She asked me to thank you and I am happy to do that, just as I am delighted to thank every single person whose effort whether big or small, contributed to this fine monument to care, to love and to determination. You have championed the cause of the disabled for fifty years. Through this building and your new name you are saying as loudly as you can that the champion has shifted gear, a new mood for a new millennium.
I would like to thank all involved in Enable Ireland for the great work your organisation carries out throughout the country and to all the staff present here today. Congratulations to everyone for all your efforts which have resulted in the completion of this wonderful centre. I wish you every success in your future endeavours. It is my great privilege to officially open the new clinic and school and to declare that Cerebal Palsy Ireland will henceforth be known as Enable Ireland
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir.