REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE TENTH AISLING BURSARIES ST MARY’S COLLEGE,
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE TENTH AISLING BURSARIES ST MARY’S COLLEGE, BELFAST
A dhaoine uaisle, Dia dhíbh go léir. Tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur measc anseo inniu ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Míle bhuíochas as an fáilte mhór a thugtar dom. My thanks to Geraldine McAteer, CEO of the West Belfast Partnership Board and to Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Managing Director of the Belfast Media Group for the invitation to join you for the tenth annual presentation of the Aisling Bursaries.
Reaching the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the Aisling bursaries is a credit to the many champions of this programme. They are too numerous to mention individually, though I think I should make an exception of Tina McCann of the West Belfast Partnership, for the huge commitment and energy she has brought to the programme.
Things were not great in Northern Ireland when the bursaries were first inaugurated but at least there was no global recession as there is now. Yet despite the colder economic climate the generosity of businesses and individuals continues to make these awards possible and is all the more worthy of praise. At its very simplest these bursaries are here because that generosity has sustained and the generosity has sustained because people care about their community, want it to be strong and achieving and because they know if you want a strong community you have to invest in the individual - the basic building block of families, of workplaces and of societies. Every society needs individuals who are problem-solvers, not problems, men and women who invest in their own talents and work hard to bring out their own potential, so that they can be the best they can possibly be. It is no secret that education is one of the most important keys to unlocking, harvesting and harnessing that potential.
The monetary value of the bursaries is not excessive - £500 or £1,000 - but it can make the difference between having the bus fare to get to college, or having your own copy of a text book, being able to spend an extra evening studying instead of going out to a part-time job. These seemingly small things help make life less of an obstacle course. But the truest value of the Aisling bursaries lies beyond pounds and pence, in the acknowledgement of talent, of effort, in the support and encouragement it gives to the individual and in the faith it places in him or her. To be thought worthy of the practical help of strangers, to have them help you invest in your own life is a source of real energy and momentum. The Irish language tells us - mol an óige agus tiochfaidh sí - praise the young and they will blossom. It is true of all of us at all ages - we stretch to our utmost best when we are given heartfelt and sustained encouragement.
Edmund Burke said society is a contract between the past, the present and those yet to be born. The Aisling Bursary is part of this community's intergenerational contract; an outstretched, gentle, helping hand to young people who are already showing an inner strength and determination that marks them out as men and women of ability, ambition and application, the kind of people who can be relied on to be tomorrow’s strong centres of gravity.
This generation of Aisling Scholars may face uncertain times economically though in reality that is nothing new - many of us here are veterans of several recessions and we know how cyclical these things are. Much less cyclical is peace. We inherited a political and sectarian mess thanks to the machinations of history over many, many centuries. But in this, the most educated and prosperous generation ever to share this island, we found the individual and the pooled resources to begin to fill in what John Hewitt described so powerfully as the “centuries arrears”. So now we have a peace that eluded so many of our ancestors. It is a precious thing. It was hard-earned and is still very much in the making. It needs champions in this and in the coming generations to commit to the work of making this a happy, safe, egalitarian and reconciled society.
One of the greatest educators this island ever produced, the famous Master himself Bryan MacMahon, wrote, "Your minds are like rooms that are dark or brown. But somewhere in the rooms, if only you can pull aside the heavy curtains, you will find windows - these are the windows of wonder. Through these you can see the yellow sunlight or the silver stars or the many coloured wheels of a rainbow." The first people who help us pull back those curtains, who ignite our curiosity about the world and about ourselves in it, are our families. This evening it is great to see so many parents here, sharing in the pride and excitement as their children embark on the next part of life's journey. Then comes our formal education described by William Butler Yeats, as “not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire”. Graduates of St. Mary’s College helped light up many a life, opening their pupils up to their own genius and the role they could play in shaping their world.
Tonight’s proud winners of this year’s Aisling Bursaries are our hope for the future. We wish them well in their studies and life’s journey that lies ahead. No two will have the same story to tell for no two are the same and thanks to these bursaries I hope each one believes utterly in his or her own value, own worth, own dignity and in the power that resides within them to make their lives count for something good, maybe even great in this needy world of ours. Thanks to Aisling for giving them this encouragement.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.