REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE “REHABILITATION MEDICINE - FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE” CONFERENCE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE “REHABILITATION MEDICINE - FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE” CONFERENCE CROKE PARK, DUBLIN
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur measc anseo ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom.
Good morning everybody and thank you so much for your warm welcome. Let me reciprocate by welcoming each of you to Dublin, especially those who are here for the first time, with the traditional Gaelic, céad míle fáilte, one hundred thousand welcomes. It really is a delight to open this first-ever Joint Conference of the Irish Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Friday of next week marks the 11th anniversary of the historic day in 1998 when, through simultaneous referenda, the Good Friday Agreement became the will of the people of this island. A key feature of that Agreement was the new beginning it heralded in relations within Northern Ireland, between North and South on this island and between Ireland and Britain. Your conference today, bringing together those three sets of relationships in such a wonderful cause, is about as tangible as it gets in terms of demonstrating the good that flows from people being able to work together instead of standing apart.
It is also fitting perhaps that we meet today in Croke Park, a wonderful stadium and space which represents so much of what is good about the modern Ireland. The roots of the stadium and the organisation for which it is the headquarters, the Gaelic Athletic Association, lie in the complex history between our two islands, but by the same token its manifestation today represents also the way that relations between us have matured and relaxed and moved on. In fact they have moved on to the point that we have now hosted the English rugby team twice here in the last two years and won both times! Our English friends did not expect me to make no mention of that, now did they! But I promise that this is a very collegial occasion, a no-gloating zone – and in any case, we can all look forward now to the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish boys playing together for the pride of the British and Irish Lions. Under an Irish captain! Again!
I would like to begin by thanking the Irish Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and in particular Dr Áine Carroll for the opportunity to address you this morning. The IARM, which of course draws practitioners from both parts of the island and the BSRM both have a proud record in the contemporary development of rehabilitation medicine, bringing it to a new level of focus, advocacy and effectiveness.
Collaborative events such as this allow us to share learning, ideas and experience across different disciplines and jurisdictions and are vital to the success of what we are about. Wherever there are geographic or professional or disciplinary boundaries there is the risk that important information can get stuck, that its flow is impeded, not necessarily deliberately but just by virtue of the invisible impermeability of those everyday barriers. It takes effort to reduce those barriers, to engage with other groups with overlapping areas of interest but with different cultures and perspectives. The rewards though are to be found in new momentum, fresh insight, shared wisdom and vindication and the energies of a bigger team pulling on the crowbar that is pushing obstacles out of your way. And in the field of rehabilitation and disability services there are plenty of obstacles to be tackled as well as a lot of ground well cleared by your efforts.
The issues you will deal with during this conference translate directly into the lived lives of men, women and children whose lives are directly affected by the chronic or acute situations, the congenital or acquired problems that lead to a need for intensive rehabilitation. For patients it can be a very lonely and even frightening journey, a journey made easier by good company on the road, the company of good carers and a wide range of professionals who have made this work their vocation, their mission, as you have. What was not so long ago pretty much a Cinderella area of health and social services and civic awareness is now a sphere of formidable advocacy and huge attitude change. Policy and practice have moved apace and you are the people who have stoked the engines that brought fresh momentum and traction to this important area of care. Your work has allowed rehabilitation to be managed much more coherently and intelligently than ever before, freeing up hope and opportunities in the lives of patients and their families.
This conference will advance that work even further as each of you brings your own unique experience to the table, shares and listens, distils and reflects and synthesises the next steps we all need to take to ensure rehabilitation services are the best we can make them in our time.
I would like to pay tribute to all those who have made this work their passion and their vocation. I pay particular tribute to the hugely significant role that families and carers play in rehabilitation day in and day out. The patients who commit to their own rehabilitation, with all the tough demands it makes of them are to be congratulated for how they make their own personal contribution to driving forward a restless agenda of improvement in treatment and outcomes. It takes all of that team pulling together to shorten the road to progress.
The public policy framework within which you operate is, of course, of central importance. I know that here in the South, the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive have embarked on the development of a National Policy/Strategy for Rehabilitation Services and we look forward to the outcome of that important work, which of course many of you are contributing to.
One of the most positive features of disability services here in Ireland, under the aegis of the National Disability Strategy, is the very strong partnership that exists between all those involved in the planning and delivery of services serving people with disabilities and their families. As was made clear at a forum we held at Áras an Uachtaráin last year on disability, the voice of those with the disability is also vital – “nothing about us without us”. Chronic illness, injury or disability may compromise the quality of life a person can enjoy but can never compromise their right to the fullest and most fulfilling life possible. I know you work to enhance your patients quality of life and to help all of us maximise the contribution they make to every sphere of civic life.
I am honoured to have the opportunity to pay tribute to you and to encourage each of you in this tremendously important work. ‘Sé mo ghuí go mbeidh rath ar an obair atá le déanamh agaibh – every good wish with your endeavours. May the conversations flow, may new ideas flower, may you enjoy our lovely city and may you all return to your lives refreshed, invigorated and with even deeper enthusiasm for your vital vocation.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir. Thank you.