SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN OF THE CLONMEL COMMUNITY RESOURCE
SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN OF THE CLONMEL COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE
Tá mé thar a bheith sásta bheith anseo libh inniu. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as an chuireadh a thug sibh dom teacht anseo agus as fáilte fíorGhaelach a chur romham.
I am delighted to be here with you today on the occasion of the launch of the Clonmel Community Resource Centre Development Plan and I am grateful to the Chairperson, Anne Taylor and the Board of Management for their kind invitation.
We are all aware of the increasing prosperity which Ireland has experienced in recent years giving us a growing hope that this country can and will deliver real equality of opportunity to every citizen, consigning marginalisation and exclusion to the history books. If we are to realise that aspiration, if we are to live it rather than dream of it we need ambitious and intuitive communities, driven by people who are committed to a future based on the widest social inclusion.
One of the most encouraging and reassuring success stories in Ireland over the past decade has been the emergence of such a vibrant community sector. In almost every parish, every village, in the city and in the country, local people, good, caring neighbours have looked around them, have asked what kind of future they want, have decided what they needed to create that future and have done the hard work needed to make that future happen. They have held the meetings, established the partnerships, fund-raised, lobbied central and local government, galvanised local businesses and individuals to harness their energies and in so doing they have become stronger, more resilient, more achieving, more confident communities. Through their efforts we have become a more self-confident country.
And so it is here in Clonmel. What brings us here today is precisely that collective determination of a healthy and hard-working community with its eye on the future. Community when it works well operates like a caring, functional extended family, offering an embrace to everyone, taking account of the uniqueness and special needs of each human being, creating a network of mutual support where people pool their resources to work, not for themselves, but for each other. And of course one of the things which concerns us most is to make sure our children are given every help to secure a decent and worthwhile future. That is something this community cares very deeply about and it is not difficult to see why you would place such importance on having the best possible facilities and support for our children.
They say that what’s learnt in childhood is engraved on stone. If we make a mistake engraving on stone we can always throw away the stone and start again. But with children we get one go around. Childhood years are irreplaceable. They are central to the growth and development of a healthy, happy adult. We invest well when we invest in them because each fulfilled adult contributes their strength to our national human energy grid. When they are strong we are strong; they are the surest guarantee that the economically and culturally confident Ireland we are now living through will deepen and develop, spreading its benefit widely.
The children who come to this Centre are fortunate to have such committed staff who encourage their social and personal development by tailoring the activities to suit the different age groups and levels of understanding. Here you are giving the children a great start and as the old Irish proverb says ‘Tús maith is leath no hoibre’- a good start is half the work.
In joining with you for this celebration, I want to commend the vision of those who started the Centre – and the commitment of those who have contributed to its success over the past five years. I also want to pay tribute to the many people who have given their support – the statutory and voluntary bodies such as the South Eastern Health Board, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Health and Children, FÁS – and the many individuals who have made a contribution to the important work that you do. The partnership model you have established is a fascinating vehicle for transferring skills and resources, for getting the very best out of what is available and for building a culture of mutual respect and shared success across many different disciplines, institutions and bodies. At the heart of the success of this Partnership is of course 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 warmly commend the work of the Board of Management in making Clonmel Resource Centre a place of support and help, a place where there is always someone to turn to, a place which gives meaning to the word ‘community’. It gives me great pleasure to launch the Development Plan today and I wish you all every future success with your programme of work.
Guím gach rath agus séan ar bhur gcuid oibre sa todhchaí. Go raibh maith agaibh.