REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE ROTARY CONFERENCE, BURLINGTON HOTEL
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE ROTARY CONFERENCE, BURLINGTON HOTEL, DUBLIN, FRIDAY, 23RD SEPTEMER
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá lúcháir orm bheith anseo libh seo ar maidin. Míle buíochas libh as an chaoin-chuireadh agus an failte fir-chaoin fosta.
Let me begin by reciprocating that lovely welcome by offering the traditional ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’, a hundred thousand welcomes, to our visitors and friends from overseas who like me have come at the invitation of Rotary Club District 1160. My thanks to Martin Molony for asking me to open your conference and for this chance to meet and say a heartfelt thank you to the members of Rotary.
There is not the faintest chance that I could, or anyone could, do justice to all the things you should be thanked for but, maybe more than many people outside of Rotary, I have a fair idea of just how far-reaching and crucial, are your charitable activities. In my visits to many communities and care organisations across this island the name of Rotary is not only deeply embedded in their stories, but it is often the seed from which the story grew to success. Just one example from this week alone and this has been a fairly typical week. On Monday last I was in another hotel not too far from here to meet a remarkable group of men and women each of whom has donated bone marrow to a complete stranger. Twenty years ago we had no register of bone marrow donor volunteers and no blood screening or matching service. Today we have 19,500 volunteers and a service that brings hope and health to sufferers from serious illnesses like leukaemia, all around the world. The two men who first thought of the concept, one the father of a sick child, the other an eminent Irish scientist, started with a great idea and no money. Today a successful and thriving organisation exists because of Rotary and the seed funding of 700,000 euro your members raised. Just one story, but one that reveals the compassionate heart of Rotary and the power of its helping hands. The Rotary motto - Service before Self - sits well with the great Irish tradition of neighbourliness and generosity. Your work is particularly important in these more prosperous days when time is at such a premium and it would be easy to become a nation of busy strangers, bustling through life but disconnected from the reach of those who suffer quietly. Your work is a vital part of the web of connectedness that makes us a human family, a community, a nation. It helps stitch us together and it also stands as a powerful witness to the truth of the saying that – it is in giving that we receive - for each of you knows the fulfilment that comes from reaching out beyond the self to offer support to the neighbour or the stranger.
The level of hopefulness in a community matters to its health and well-being, its self-confidence and its resilience. Your work helps to constantly replenish that well of hope. Where people feel included, listened to, understood, levels of hope and confidence are high and so your theme for this conference ‘A Better Understanding’ speaks of an organisation that is ever restless in its determination to reach out with respect and caring curiosity to those who feel more like spectators than participants in life’s feast.
Ireland has a phenomenal story to tell of a nation transformed from the indignity of poverty and emigration into one of the world’s most successful and wealthy economies. Opportunity abounds here and the benefits are wide-spread but the fully realised egalitarian Ireland we dream of, is still unfinished business. Those who remain spectators see the distance between them and the rest growing ever greater. They need reassurance that we are all committed to attaining the “true social order” our Constitution speaks of, for in that order the poor, the disabled, the traveller, the emigrant, the elderly, the chronically ill, the mentally unwell, will not have to struggle for understanding or full inclusion.
As Rotarians you have the tremendous advantage of being able to bring international experience to bear on these issues. Not only are you organised to think globally and act locally, but you can also think locally and act globally, giving depth and significance to everything you do and helping all of us as a society to deal more comprehensively and effectively with our problems.
Through practical idealism and patriotism Rotarians have shown, time and time again, that personal contact is a significant and real way to create understanding, connecting people whether across borders or between divided communities. Your simple human friendships build up trust and goodwill where before there was ignorance and suspicion. A unique exemplar of that was the late Senator Gordon Wilson, a former President of this Club. The spontaneity of his graciousness and forgiveness following the wilful murder of his beautiful daughter Marie in the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing, has become an iconic standard and an uncompromising challenge to we who continue to struggle with history’s baleful legacy of sectarian and ethnic conflict.
The happy future that we wish for ourselves and our children is ours to create but only by ending exclusion, and intolerance. Somewhere inside each of us is the spirit of decency epitomised by Rotary, showcased by Rotary and harnessed by Rotary. You have come here today to seek better understanding of the otherness of others. I hope many more will follow where you lead.
I congratulate you the members of the Rotary Club of District 1160 and Rotarians everywhere for all that you do in the cause of others, for making our world a better place to live in, for future generations to grow up in. I am delighted to declare this Conference officially open and wish you well in your deliberations.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.