REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE SIPTU/NUI GALWAY ALLIANCE NATIONAL EQUALITY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE SIPTU/NUI GALWAY ALLIANCE NATIONAL EQUALITY EMERGING RADIO BROADCASTING
Tá gliondar orm bheith anseo libh inniu ag an ócáid speisialta seo. Go raibh maith agaibh as fáite fíorGhaelach a chur romham.
It is a great pleasure to join you here today for the presentation of these very first Equality Emerging Radio Broadcasting Awards. I would like to warmly commend all those involved in the NUI Galway/SIPTU Alliance, ‘Connemara Women 2000’ and ‘Women on Air’ for taking this important initiative with the support of the European Union’s NOW Programme. A special thank you also to all of the pupils of St Nicholas’ Parochial School for their wonderful welcome.
These Awards recognise that no matter how many equality reports are produced, no matter how many statistics are compiled, nothing can replace the power of the individual human story to create empathy and understanding, to move us and inspire us. And no other medium has the simplicity and power of radio when it comes to telling that story, allowing it to seep into the listener’s mind, without the instant judgement and, all too often, pre-judgements that can accompany the visual image.
We have always been known as a nation of storytellers, a people who understood the value of letting a story unfold. Now, as our society becomes ever more diverse, there are many more stories to be told. We need those different voices to be heard and appreciated. They can tell us a great deal about how much we share, how similar the human spirit is beneath the skin, regardless of colour or disability, race or religion, wealth or gender. And it is only by coming to know each other and each other’s stories, that we will learn to overcome fear of difference; only then, that fear of the unknown can be replaced by joyful curiosity about the new and unfamiliar; only then, can we come to genuinely value and appreciate the richness of that diversity. Diversity and change are essential parts of the human condition, more than that they are part of the life-giving, life-enhancing energy we have been given by our Creator.
The story of Ireland’s success, economically, socially and culturally over the past decade and more, is based on greater openness to the world, on enabling an ever broader range of people to access education and employment opportunities. That investment has been repaid a hundredfold, fuelling an incredible explosion of energy and talent and enthusiasm, especially among our young women, giving us real hope that we can consign poverty and lack of opportunity to history.
But we still have a distance to go in breaking down all of the barriers of discrimination and exclusion, some obvious, some more subtle, which still result in so much wasted talent and potential. That is the challenge for this generation. Much is being done in relation to equality legislation and in providing the support mechanisms which enable those rights to be vindicated. But ultimately, our best guarantee of a more tolerant and humanly decent society lies in our willingness to listen to, understand and respect the human person behind each story, each set of statistics.
This competition has done a tremendous service in enabling those stories to be heard. I warmly congratulate all of the local and community radio stations who have supported this initiative with such enthusiasm. I would also like to pay tribute to all of the organisations who took part in the competition. I know the judges have had a very difficult task in selecting winners from among such imaginative, high quality entries. Great credit is due to the many individuals within each group who have given so generously of their time and energy, not just in preparing for this competition, but for all their hard work on behalf of others in their community.
Finally, I would like to express my appreciation once again to the NUI Galway/SIPTU Alliance for inviting me to present these Awards and to unveil this picture, which gives us a foretaste of John Behan’s ‘Emerging Equality’ sculpture. I wish the Alliance, and the many new Equality Specialists trained under its auspices, every success in all its future work.