REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE DURING A VISIT TO FATIMA MANSIONS, SATURDAY, 12TH NOVEMBER, 2005
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE DURING A VISIT TO FATIMA MANSIONS, SATURDAY, 12TH NOVEMBER, 2005
Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo i bhur measc inniu. Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin.
I am delighted to be here in Fatima Mansions to see the terrific progress that has been achieved on the regeneration project since I came here a few years ago at its launch. My thanks to Gemma McKenna and Joe Donohoe of the Fatima Groups United for their kind invitation to me to come here today.
When I last was here, your plans were just that – a book of ideas, born out of very bleak times and a strong determination that things were going to get better. Your faith, resilience and commitment are as incredible as they are inspirational, for few communities experienced such overwhelming problems as you did. So the true foundations of this redevelopment are not the cement, the bricks and the mortar, they are your hearts, your souls, your huge spirit.
Today I hope that community spirit is soaring with pride – because you are entitled to be proud – just look at what you have overcome to arrive at this day, look at all the problems, the doubts, the mountains climbed to make the dream you had into a lived reality. This is people power at its shining best. A community knocked down by so many adversities has fought back, taken control of its landscape, its future and the future of its children. And in doing that you have said loud and clear that tomorrow’s Ireland is going to be a place where people care about one another, where children grow up in safe neighbourhoods, where their talents blossom naturally and where poverty and disadvantage are under constant attack until they disappear from our history books for good.
We are still in time to see the past, the present and the future standing side by side. The lovely new houses tell of a new beginning for so many families and the old flats are a statement of the work yet to come. There is an air of optimism and excitement in the area as the work of Fatima Groups United and The Fatima Regeneration Board, under the chairmanship of Finbarr Flood, reveals itself in one of our country’s most ambitious regeneration projects.
The first phase of the redevelopment, the completion of 110 houses for Dublin City Council tenants, is just finished and Phase Two is due to start soon. When it is finished there will be homes, gardens, a Luas stop, shops, a community centre, a swimming pool, gym, crèche and outdoor football areas. The children who will grow up here will have a home and a community that truly respects them and their needs. The people who live here will, I hope, find here the happiness of a peaceful community free from the scourges that threatened their peace of mind for so many long years. Fatima has set the standard and awakened the ambitions of other neighbourhoods that yearn for regeneration. It started with a bunch of men and women who refused to settle for the misery around them. With no money and just a good idea they drew together the extensive partnership that delivered this project – the City Council, the various statutory agencies and residents’ organisations under their umbrella body, Fatima Groups United, which eventually led to what we see today. They are owed a lot of thanks and now today we have the launch of the Social Regeneration Plan which will be a major contribution to the efforts of developing communities everywhere. Fatima is now the place that others are looking to for advice and guidance – what a transformation – what a credit to the people of Fatima Mansions.
I hope this Christmas will be the first of many very happy Christmases for the residents of these beautiful new homes.
Congratulations to everyone who helped make their dreams come true.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.