REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE UNVEILING OF THE SCULPTURE “THE NCIris” AT THE NCI
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE UNVEILING OF THE SCULPTURE “THE NCIris” AT THE NATIONAL COLLEGE OF IRELAND, DUBLIN
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá mé an sásta bheith i bhur measc inniu.
This is a lovely occasion and an important occasion for the National College of Ireland, the docklands and our capital city. My thanks to NCI President, Professor Joyce O’Connor, for inviting me to share today with you.
We are here to celebrate the unveiling of a splendid new piece of public art, commissioned by the NCI and executed by one of Ireland’s most distinguished sculptors, Vivienne Roche. Vivienne’s stunning interpretation of the commission is clearly set to become a city landmark delighting people with its simple beauty.
This is my first encounter with a flower that stands fourteen metres high but how well it symbolises the “Think Big” spirit of the new Ireland and the vision which planted a vibrant new College at the heart of an old and dreary docklands area as it reshaped itself into an exciting contemporary stage on which to showcase Ireland’s future.
A huge flower, symbolising growth and the blossoming of potential, seems entirely appropriate for these times when education has unlocked the genius of our people and their genius has unlocked our potential as a nation. The spirit of innovation and creativity which has transformed Ireland from “ceann faoi” to “can do” is nowhere more evident than in this area and in this college. It took courage and it took risktakers to believe in the Docklands of the 21st century and to set the scene for its delivery. The phenomenal success of the IFSC is a vindication of those risks and it has become much more that a metaphor for Ireland’s economic success, it is now a living, working, caring, learning community.
The NCI is a crucial part of that community life and this sculpture is an outward sign of the College’s commitment to deepening and enriching the lived lives of its students, staff, its neighbours and visitors to the area. This sculpture is a gift to all of them and to the city. The elaborate system of lights means that its elegant fourteen metre form will be as visually striking by night as by day. That light is itself a permanent statement of the College’s availability as a centre of lifetime learning, an opportunity just waiting to be taken to light up a life in the way that only education can.
Dublin now has a new and exceptional piece of public art. That means that it now belongs to the people, to every citizen who cares to glance at it as they pass. Seamus Heaney words come to mind (writing in The Economist) “The kinds of truth that art gives us many, many times are small truths. They don’t have the resonance of an encyclical from the Pope stating an eternal truth, but they partake of the quality of eternity. There is a sort of timeless delight in them.”
We have seen a great flowering of public art, these timeless delights, across our island, helped along by the terms of the Government’s Per Cent for Art Scheme, which seeks to have a work of art incorporated in every major public project. The accessibility of these works puts art where people are, and today this magnificent sculpture puts art and people right in each other’s path. I congratulate the artist and everyone else involved with the project - not least the engineers who helped to make it happen.
I hope it brings much enjoyment and I am delighted to unveil it.
Go raibh maith agaibh.