SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF KNOCKROE LODGE
SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF KNOCKROE LODGE YOUTH TRAINING & RECREATION CENTRE
Is mór an pléisiúir dom bheith anseo i bhur measc inniu. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin.
It gives me great pleasure to be here today in this delightful setting in Borris, County Carlow for the opening of the Knockroe Lodge Youth Training and Recreation Centre. Special thanks to Eddie Byrne and the Killinarden Youth Forum for inviting me and giving me this opportunity to acknowledge their hard work and commitment in completing this special project.
Killinarden Youth Forum has a proud tradition in supporting the social education of young people in a creative and dynamic way. Since it began in 1994, a wide range of youth work programmes and services have been developed to encourage young people through educational, health and community awareness programmes, and sporting activities. The inspiring and innovative approach to meet the changing needs of the young people in its care has earned the Killinarden Youth Forum several prestigious awards in recent years – such as the AIB Better Ireland and the overall winner in the Voluntary Category of the South Dublin County Council Millennium Community Awards. It is hardly surprising therefore that the same dedicated group of people have taken this novel and bold initiative to expanding the success in Killinarden to this magnificent new facility in Carlow.
From the outset of this project young people, teenagers, have been encouraged to play an active role in all parts of the design and layout of this new facility. I congratulate your enthusiasm and hard work to fulfil a vision of what life should be about – grasping the opportunity to open or re-open the door to education and training that will give you the chance to realise your own ability and talent – to better equip yourselves to seek further education or employment. In doing so you have vindicated those who have had faith in you – and you have given the lead to others who can see what a new opportunity like this can mean in their lives. This is simply about giving you access to good life choices, giving you the chance to use your life, your youth well.
As Lord Asquith, a former British Prime Minister said “youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life” . But youth is what it is - a time when we have still a lot to learn about ourselves, a lot to learn about the world, a time of transition from childhood to adulthood, a time that can be a great adventure, a time when we lay the foundations for the rest of our lives. It is a time when inexperience can get us into trouble, when a bad decision can shut off our life’s chances, when with a bit of give and take, a bit of gentle help from others and a bit of commitment from ourselves we can shape our lives well, steer them in a direction that won’t lead us into cul-de-sacs. We want, we need our young people to be self-confident, to be resilient for life throws us many challenges and it is sometimes easy to become overwhelmed. We need you to be resilient, to be copers, to be doers first of all for your own sake, so that you will get joy and fulfilment out of life, but secondly for all of us as a community. The stronger each individual the stronger we are as a civic society. This Youth Centre will help you grow strong. It will transform your life chances, help you make good choices, informed choices, sensible choices and so benefit both you as individuals and the community as a whole.
Since taking up Office, I have been struck by the incredibly refreshing spirit of confidence about a ‘can do’ philosophy which is empowering communities throughout Ireland – building up pride in the individual and in the team – in the community and the nation. That spirit of self-help and pride, of volunteering, is in accordance with the very best traditional Irish values. It invigorates our democratic system and reduces unhealthy dependence on bureaucratic institutions. It allows young people to realise their own potential, to take responsibility for their own affairs and to develop new skills for the improvement of their community. One of our greatest resources is our young people. Their potential through their energy, intelligence and eagerness to contribute to the welfare of their community is boundless, and we have every reason to be proud of them. The most meaningful tribute we can pay them is to support, share in and recognise their achievements to welcome their idealism, to be reassured by their energy and to encourage their deep spontaneous sense of social justice. These are the things which they will build on as they help build the future we will all enjoy and take pride in - an Ireland where everyone matters, everyone counts and everyone has real choice.
I fully appreciate that this event is the culmination of a lot of hard work, endeavour and commitment by many people and has involved effective collaboration between voluntary and statutory agencies. I wish to commend everybody concerned for their efforts, particularly Eddie Byrne, Caroline Hope and the Killinarden Youth Co-ordinators, the Killinarden Engages Youth Project, South Dublin County Council and the local groups here in Carlow who have worked alongside this project to help turn this dream into reality. May you all enjoy to the full all that the Centre has to offer as a valuable education facility and the place to bind you even more closely together as a caring and neighbourly community. I am delighted therefore to declare the Knockroe Lodge Youth Training and Recreation Centre officially open.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir.