Remarks at a Reception for Priory Hall Residents
Áras an Uachtaráin, 13th December 2013
Sabina and I are so pleased to welcome you all here today to Áras an Uachtaráin and I wish to thank Graham Usher and his colleagues on the Committee for their assistance in organising our gathering here this afternoon.
Tá beagnach ceithre bliana caite ó rinneadh na chéad tionóntaí a aslonnú ó Priory Hall, agus os cionn dhá bhliain ó b’éigean daoibh go léir imeacht as bhur mbailte ansin go deo. Is léir gur bhlianta an-chrua a bhí iontu; go raibh neamhchinnteacht, imní, frustrachas agus díomá intuigthe ag baint leo.
[It is almost four years to the day since the first tenants were evacuated from Priory Hall, and over two years since all of you had to leave your homes there for good. These have, it is clear, been very difficult years; years of uncertainty, anxiety, frustration and an understandable dismay.]
The end of 2013 marks a turning point in a difficult struggle for the residents of Priory Hall – a struggle for justice and fairness for a place that you could call home.
The decades from which we are moving are ones in which we will have to recall were ones, when, by breaches of trust in those institutions and professions where it had been placed, very many were left wounded – those who simply sought a home, but also so many of our citizens were deeply wounded as a people and as an economy. In failing to control speculation, by light or no regulation, our citizens were failed by those in whom trust was placed in their duty of care towards all of our citizens.
The ethical values necessary to be at the heart of any flourishing society not to speak of a Republic, were seen, by some, as a redundant relic of the past. The prevailing ethos of the property boom, dominated by an aggressive individualism and an almost reverential approach to speculative wealth, to consumption for its own sake.
It was a version of Ireland which was very far from the best values of a Republic, something that must not be allowed to re-emerge, that must be rejected, as we seek to close that failed chapter and begin to look forward with hope, and our characteristic resilience, to better and more responsible days ahead.
In the course of my meetings with the public since my inauguration as President just over two years ago, I have met many of those left vulnerable and damaged by our past failings as a society. I understand their righteous anger, however, I have also seen, again and again, the will of the people to move beyond anger, frustration and cynicism and to work together in solidarity to respond to their crisis, and their human courage to seek to build a new society, and a real Republic, in which we can all play our part, and of which we can be proud.
It is that will and spirit of solidarity which united your good selves, the former residents of Priory Hall as you fought together, with such tenacity, determination and dignity in pursuit of a single shared goal – a fair hearing, a just consideration, and just recompense.
It is a goal which you have now substantially advanced and which allows you to approach 2014 with a sense of hope for the future and also, I trust, a renewed engagement with a society which badly let you down; but a society in which we all must live has learnt a salutary lesson and can now be rebuilt on more sustainable and more ethical foundations. It is all of us together after all who make, and define, the society of our times.
Your success has, of course, not been achieved easily. In fact, for some of you, it has come at great personal cost. I would like to particularly mention Stephanie Meehan whose bravery and tenacity at a time of enormous personal tragedy moved and impressed a nation. Stephanie’s dignity and generosity of spirit has been publicly acknowledged by the Priory Hall residents, and I would like to add my voice to theirs in thanking her for being an inspiration to us all and a true embodiment of courage in the face of tragedy.
I also wish to commend Graham Usher and his colleagues for the very effective way they carried out their advocacy role on behalf of all the residents. Their calm, measured and dignified voices conveyed to the media and the wider world that the cause of justice lay with the residents and that there was a burden of responsibility which lay with society.
It is only fair to also acknowledge the personal role of the Taoiseach in delivering a settlement that has the capacity to address the needs of the residents and I am pleased that his Secretary General, Martin Fraser, is with us this evening. Due to commitments at DCU, Dr. Martin McAleese cannot be with us this afternoon. I know he has made, and will continue to make, an important contribution to resolving this issue.
Finally, I would like to thank you all for coming here today. Christmas is a time of year when we begin to say goodbye to one year, and to look forward with hope to a new year to come. It is perhaps the first Christmas for a number of years where your families can again fully experience a sense of hope and joy. I wish all of the residents of Priory Hall a 2014 in which they can move out of the shadows of anxiety, hurt and disappointment and look forward to new possibilities and new beginnings.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.