REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE ON HER VISIT TO THE ULSTER MUSEUM
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE ON HER VISIT TO THE ULSTER MUSEUM, BELFAST FRIDAY, 8TH OCTOBER, 1999
Tá mé thar a bheith sásta bheith anseo libh inniu. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as fáilte fíorchaoin a chur romham.
I owe a debt of thanks to Sir Peter Frogatt for his words of welcome and to everyone at the Museum for your very kind invitation. This Museum has always been an easy place to visit, a welcoming place to come to. In another life I often rambled around this place and have known the joy of watching my children discover the huge magic that lurks in a museum that is child-centred.
Museums and Galleries sometimes have a reputation for being interesting in themselves, but of little relevance to the modern world, and especially to our young people. This Museum shows and has always taken pride in showing just how wrong that perception is. Indeed, the variety of services you provide – from the exploration of history and science, to art gallery lessons and across a range of artistic and musical events – shows an exceptional level of commitment and imagination on the part of the Trustees and staff here. There is a wonderful atmosphere of energy and enthusiasm here which is especially evident in the Texaco Children’s Art Exhibition that I have just had the pleasure of viewing.
Joseph Conrad, the great writer of epic tales, said that imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of Art as of life. We can see the truth of that here in our young people. Looking at the Children’s Art Exhibition, I am struck by the quality of their observations, by their imagination and by the way in which they use their own experiences as an inspiration for their art. This openness and creativity is something which we should carefully nourish, not just in order to foster their personal development and vision, but also because these are qualities which are needed in today’s world. We need people who are mould breakers, who have learned from an early age to ‘think outside the box’, to look beyond received attitudes and to translate their creative energies into constructing the new reality out of which exciting and better futures will be crafted. I would like to warmly congratulate all of the young people whose talent is on display here. Whatever your chosen path in life, I hope you never lose that courageous creativity and self-belief that you have demonstrated in this Exhibition.
I would also like to commend all of you who have been involved in the exhibition of 300 Years of Irish Art which is on display in this room. It traces in a fascinating way the story of Irish Art through the generations, and the differing themes which inspired artists over that period. But it also contains echoes of the history and wider culture of this island, providing us with an opportunity, if we take it, to grow in understanding and respect for the diverse strands which have been woven together to form the complex tapestry of modern Ireland, North and South.
I know this place, admire this place and have a special place for it in my heart no doubt partly because it was a favourite haunt of Martin’s and mine during our early courting days. It was in this place at the famous dinosaur exhibition that I realised for the first time just how paltry and trifling is the time we humans have had on the earth. The Good Lord was a long time watching the shenanigans of dinosaurs before he grew terminally bored with them. If he was watching the edited highlights of life on earth he’d be watching a lot of dinosaurs and from Plato to Power Rangers, we wouldn’t last as long as an ad-break.
That day put a lot of things into perspective. That is what good museums do and this is a great museum. I thank you for all those special memories and I wish you every success in your future work.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.