REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE BALLYMUN YOUTH ACTION PROJECT’S NEW PREMISES
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE BALLYMUN YOUTH ACTION PROJECT’S NEW PREMISES IN THE HORIZONS CENTRE
Tá lucháir mhór orm go bhfuil mé ábalta bheith anseo inniu, agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as an chuireadh, agus as fáilte a bhi caoin, cneasta agus croiúil.
Hello everybody,
I am delighted to be here today on this important occasion for the Ballymun Youth Action Project and in particular for the people and families who daily deal with the effects of substance misuse. You have plenty of down days but this is definitely an up day and this place is about making sure the better days win out.
It is wonderful that you have achieved this permanent home, which, I know, has been the result of immense work and cooperation between many different people and agencies. I would like to thank Director Mairead Kavanagh for kind her invitation to me to celebrate with you twenty-five – indeed now almost twenty-six – years of the project’s existence and its move last June to this new purpose built premises – the Horizons Centre.
Back in 1981, the decision to establish the Ballymun Youth Action Project was a determined response to the senseless and needless deaths from drugs, of three young people here in the locality. The waste of their lives, their futures, spurred the founders to do something that would make the present safer for others.
There is an old saying that if you are still wringing your hands you can’t have rolled up your sleeves. This place happened, and keeps on happening, because people roll up their sleeves and do what they can see needs to be done. Today is their day. It is a day when the community says a big thank-you to them for the sheer hard work, and the faith, they have invested here. Every healthy community needs good people to help it grow, develop and become confident through motivating and harnessing its greatest resource – the talent of its own people. That is precisely what the Ballymun Youth Action Project does. It invests in each human being, helping them to grow strong and self-reliant, and that investment strengthens the family, the community and our country at the same time.
In these times of unprecedented prosperity and opportunity in Ireland it is tragic to see the other face of Ireland where people are ground down by the blight of drug addiction and its devastating consequences for the individual addict, his or her family, and the wider community. The trail of damage is frightening and it takes people of real courage to set about cleaning up the mess and channelling the concerns, fears and sometimes the anger of communities, in a positive and constructive way. It also takes some considerable skill and the involvement of URRÚS – Ireland’s Community Addiction Studies Training Centre has been an important part of the journey for it has given local people from the Ballymun Youth Action Project a role in training other local people and professionals in the field.
Drugs rob people of the chance to realize their full potential. In these days of spring when trees start to become alive with leaves – the drug addict is the tree that stays stuck in winter, damaged, withering, failing. Luckily there are people who know a thing or two about damaged people, and luckily there are damaged people who want to be healed and to help heal themselves. Both need each other and we, as a society, need both to work together and to work together well. That is why it is reassuring to see the partnership and co‑ordination between the relevant statutory agencies, voluntary groups and local communities such as the Ballymun Youth Action Project. But beyond reassuring, it is really a great relief to see addicts seek out and access these services and make a real effort to bring their lives out of the darkness of drugs and into the light.
It is a long journey but one with important milestones and achievements on the way. The move into this new Horizons Centre by Ballymun Youth Action Project, URRÚS, and others is one of those milestones. It took a lot of effort from individuals and key organisations so a warm thanks to them all including Ballymun Local Drugs Task Force, Youth Action Project, the National Drugs Strategy Premises Initiative, Dublin City Council, Ballymun Regeneration Limited, the HSE and the Probation and Welfare Service. Every success to Ballymun Horizons Limited in overseeing the management of the Centre and in particular every success to all those who are putting their heads together to find workable answers to the problems caused by drug abuse. We are lucky to have you!
Is iontach an obair ar siúl agaibh agus gúim rath agus séan oraibh go léir san am atá le teacht. Go raibh maith agaibh.