REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE VISIT TO BAILIEBOROUGH RESOURCE HOUSE, CO. CAVAN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE VISIT TO BAILIEBOROUGH RESOURCE HOUSE, CO. CAVAN MONDAY, 22 MARCH 1999
I have great pleasure in being here today at the Bailieborough Resource House and I would like to thank the Project Manager, Thomas Cahill and the Manager of Cavan Partnership, Linda Pinkster, for their kind invitation.
It’s not so long since I last visited Cavan to open the Partnership’s new offices. I am delighted to be able to pay a return visit, this time to Bailieborough, to see another of the wonderful activities that the local community, with the support of Cavan Partnership, has undertaken.
I know that the Committee of local residents which was set up to run the centre, has worked very hard to establish this house as a resource for this area. Your success is all the more remarkable, given that many of you had never before been involved in any kind of committee or project. It is a tribute to your enthusiasm and determination that a wide range of initiatives is already underway, with many others in the pipeline. These include a playschool, homework club, money advice clinics, youth training projects, a mediation service for the unemployed and a resident’s committee. I’m sure you have surprised yourselves in what you have been able to accomplish – proving the truth of the old saying ‘Ní neart go chur le chéile’.
It is activities of this kind that are making a real difference to the day-to-day lives of people in communities all over Ireland. We have still a considerable distance to travel before there will be real equality of opportunity in our society. But we are making progress towards this crucial goal. This generation, more than any other, has the opportunity to make real strides in tackling poverty and disadvantage. Too much talent has already been wasted down through the years, at tremendous cost to both individuals and our society as a whole. This can and must change. It will not be changed by accident, but it can happen if there is real commitment – the kind of commitment you have shown here.
Throughout the country, local communities are showing that they are willing to take up this challenge, to shape their lives and reshape them, to make life better. All they need is encouragement and support, a little funding, and assistance in building up skills, confidence and experience. This is where organisations such as the Cavan Partnership come into their own. The Partnership approach brings together all the important players within the community – local people, the long term unemployed, the voluntary and community sector, the Social Partners and the statutory agencies. This approach ensures that all available resources are used to the full, in targeting the real needs of the community, as identified by the community itself. The wide range of agencies who helped in the establishment of this resource centre and who have now established programmes there, is a perfect example of the benefits that this type of partnership can bring.
I would like to warmly commend all the organisations and individuals who contributed their time, energy and funds to get this project off the ground: Cavan County Council, which provided the premises; the local Health Board, VEC, local Gardaí, FAS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, and the Department of Social Community and Family Affairs. Most of all, I would like to congratulate Cavan Partnership, which has overseen the entire process and has dedicated a full-time staff member to supervise the running of the House and the childcare facilities. Through your work lives will be changed. People who had ambitions but little hope of realising them will now be able to blossom as they should. People who had no real clear picture of their hidden talents will find encouragement and opportunity to grow in many exciting new directions
The success of the Partnership depends on the involvement and motivation of local people. I would therefore like to pay a special tribute to you. You are the main force and energy behind the project and I have no doubt that with commitment like this, the resource centre will grow and prosper.
I wish all of you every success with your future programme of work.