REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE CHILDCARE CENTRE ST ANDREW’S RESOURCE CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE CHILDCARE CENTRE ST ANDREW’S RESOURCE CENTRE PEARSE ST. DUBLIN 2
Is bréa liom bheith anseo libh inniu chun an lárionad seo le haghaidh chúram na leanaí a oscailt. Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch dibh as an chuireadh.
I would like to start by saying how delighted I am to be here with you today – not just to open this wonderful new childcare centre, but also because it gives me an opportunity to meet so many of you who have been involved down through the years in the work of St. Andrew’s Resource Centre.
It is a place which really lifts the spirit, because there is a real sense of community here, a sense that people are not on their own, that others are willing to listen, to get involved, to help, to encourage, to give back to people the confidence, self-belief and hope that years of poverty or exclusion had drained away.
It was appropriate that this childcare project was initiated last year in celebration of 25 years since St. Andrew’s establishment, and 10 years since this fine premises in Pearse St. was opened by former President, Dr. Paddy Hillery. Much has happened in those intervening years. Ireland has been transformed, but not for everyone. Our unprecedented economic success should not blind us to the many people who remain stranded, their exclusion rendered all the more difficult to bear by the prosperity which surrounds them.
That economic success gives us a choice as a society, a choice that previous generations never had. We now have the means and the opportunity to tackle poverty and exclusion in a way that was unimaginable in the past. It can happen if we have the determination, the imagination and the insight to close the gap between those at the centre, and those on the margins. This is not just a question of fairness and decency. The more there are on the margins, the weaker is the centre. Economically and socially, we need all our talents harnessed and at work, participating in the decisions that affect their lives and the life of their community.
Not everyone may be willing to grasp that opportunity. But there are many who are. Those of you who are involved in the work of St. Andrew’s Resource Centre have seen, time and again, the transformation in outlook, in hope, in energy and self-confidence that occurs when individuals reach the first step on the ladder to independence. This expanded childcare centre will help many more to take that first step, enabling parents to return to work or study, enriching not only their lives, but those of their children and, indeed, the whole social fabric of this area.
It is a well-known fact that a child who is told and shown that he or she can succeed has a much higher chance of doing so. I know that this has been the experience of the children who have attended the playschool and Montessori service here in the past. This new Centre will offer that opportunity to many more children, fostering in them a strong sense of self-confidence, optimism and courage to follow their own dreams in life. Children learn from example and the high calibre of commitment and dedication exhibited by all of the staff here, is one shining example from which the children here can learn and be encouraged to follow.
Partnership has always been the driving ethos behind St. Andrew’s success and this childcare centre continues that tradition. I would like to warmly commend Area Development Management (ADM), FAS, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform whose support has been invaluable in bringing this project to such a successful conclusion. I would also like to thank Dermot McCarthy, who has been such an outstanding Chairman, as well as John Fitzsimons and all of the staff here at St. Andrews, for their exceptional hard work and dedication in making this Centre such a lifeline for all who use it.
Most of all, I would like to pay tribute to the local community and volunteers who have contributed time and money with such generosity down through the years and enabled this Centre to grow and thrive. Back in 1973, it must have seemed impossibly optimistic to imagine that the Centre would expand to its current size, with services ranging from a Day Centre for older people, to a Youth Programme, Jobs Centre, Welfare Rights Information and many others. It shows that it is only by daring to imagine what might be, that our full potential can be realised.
I wish you every success with the childcare centre and in all your future work.
Go gcúití Dia bhur saothar daoibh. Go raibh maith agaibh.