REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE ATHENRY COMMUNITY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE ATHENRY COMMUNITY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CENTRE ON 10 SEPTEMBER, 2004
Tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur measc i Baile Átha an Ríogh, inniu. Míle buíochas dhíbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte.
It’s good to be here in the wonderfully historic town of Athenry to open your Community Information Technology Centre. Few towns in Ireland are steeped in history to the extent that Athenry is for it is known to have a past dating back several millennia. It is also a town that at one time was very definitely against progress – seemingly in the latter part of the 16th Century it was decided to reduce the size of the town by half (following an attack in the 1570’s by the sons of the Earl of Clanricarde). By contrast why I’m here today is very much about progress, because today we celebrate the latest success story in the eventful and successful ten year history of Athenry Area Development Company – an organisation that has done much to improve so many aspects of life in this area. Comhghairdeachas libh arís inniu.
The ADC has a legacy of tremendous work promoting the economic and cultural welfare of this community. It has championed disadvantaged groups and acted as an umbrella group for other community bodies in Athenry. It has been an engine driving change, creating opportunity and in this beautiful Centre we have a showcase of the imagination, the innovation, the determination and the ‘can do’ attitude of the ADC.
We live in an era when a single CD ROM can store the equivalent of 10 tonnes of books - when what once was housed in a large library building, can now be stored in a shoe box. Developments in information and communications technologies are creating new opportunities almost daily but to access those opportunities and to make the most of them we have to be computer literate. This community information technology centre brings the chance to be computer literate to the doorstep of local people. Here you can learn in a happy, familiar environment, in the company of friends and neighbours. Here you can expand your circle of friends and at the same time expand your knowledge and skill.
Your motto ‘Open Up Your World’ is an invitation to enter our technological world no matter what age you are, no matter how great your fear of things technical. The journey to competency, to being comfortable with computers is one you do not have to go alone. Here there is help, support and encouragement. Here your investment in training is seen as not just creating a benefit to the individual but a benefit to the entire community, extending its capacity, building up its skill and confidence. From beginners to business clients this IT resource at the heart of community will give Athenry a new edge. It will change the lives of its users and the evidence is already here of the power this place has.
When Bernadette O’Shea, wrote in July to invite me to officially open the centre today, she told me that in the Centre’s first five weeks open, more than 50 people had taken part in a ‘Computer Basics and Internet’ course. What was even more gratifying to see was that the average age of participants was over 50 and the oldest was 80. At the rate ye’re going, I won’t be sending letters of congratulations to people anymore when they reach 100, I’ll be sending email, God help us! It is wonderful to see such a great response to this facility and to know that you devise an individual IT programme for each person, offering one-to-one support, and teaching at a pace and level that people are comfortable with.
You have established a most wonderful means of bringing people together, both through physical interaction in the Centre but also electronically through the Internet. You have made it possible to shop on the Internet, to obtain community information, to establish contact with people in similar circumstances, to locate sources of help and information and of course to search out employment opportunities. From what I’ve seen, the Executive Committee and staff of ADM, Galway Rural Development, FAS, the Western Health Board and the local community here in Athenry – everyone involved in developing this Centre can take rightful pride in what you have achieved. As I look around me at this latest achievement this afternoon I have little doubt but that the town and people of Athenry will know many more successes in the years ahead thanks to the efforts and resolve of the people in this room and those like them and because of the world this centre is opening up to the people of Athenry.
Go n-eiri go geal libh go léir. Go raibh maith agaibh.