ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT MARY ROBINSON OPENING THE MULTI-MEDIA AUDIO-VISUAL PRESENTATION
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT MARY ROBINSON OPENING THE MULTI-MEDIA AUDIO-VISUAL PRESENTATION IN THE EDMUND RICE CENTRE, MOUNT SION
Tá áthas an domhain orm an deis seo a bheith agam inniu Ionad Eamonn Iognáid de Rís anseo i gCnoc Síon a oscailt agus an obair atá ar siúl ag na Bráithre a mholadh.
Tá sé céad bliain agus caoga ó fuair Eamonn Iognáid de Rís Bás. Tá sé beagnach dhá chéad bliain ó bhunaigh sé na comlachtaí agaibh.
Edmund Rice's contribution to the development of 19th century Ireland was enormous and may not yet be fully appreciated.
Edmund knew Waterford city very well. His business brought him face to face on a daily basis with the major social problems that affected the poor people. Before he ever thought of opening a school he was deeply involved in the charitable institutions then in existence in the city, both as administrator and active participant. Following his day's work, as a member of the Distressed Roomkeepers Association, he visited the sick poor in their homes bringing spiritual and temporal solace.
However, he was conscious that his efforts could have a limited effect, and of the fact that if the poor were really to make progress, he would have to help them help themselves. This was his reason for undertaking their education. The most often used phrase of old people who remembered his work was "he lifted up the poor". This simple phrase sums up his vision, which was to have an extraordinary influence both in Ireland and throughout the world. He believed in empowering the people.
Edmund married in 1785, but his wife died following the birth of their daughter four years later. As a single parent, his greatest challenge was to care for Mary. He retained happy memories of his home at Westcourt, Callan. With a heavy heart, yet conscious that Mary was now mature enough not to suffer trauma, he entrusted her to the loving care of his brother Patrick and his wife Mary Sullivan.
The difficulties facing him were enormous. The Penal Laws had reduced the population to poverty, ignorance and vice. Structures were not in place in the first decade of 19th century Ireland to address these problems. Edmund Rice was a man of reality. He did not underestimate the challenge facing him. He realised that the poverty of spirit which had arisen from neglect was destructive of the individual and society. Education would afford the young people a framework which would give meaning to their lives.
Encouraged by the local bishops and by Pope Pius VI, he resolutely set about his task. Edmund opened his first school in a stable in New Street in 1802. The boys moved to Mount Sion in 1804. Despite his generous provision of money, the schools were inadequate from the beginning. In Edmund's own lifetime there were three extensions added to the first school.
Edmund Rice adapted a teaching system devised by Joseph Bell and Joseph Lancaster of England in his school. The Lancasterian system involved collaboration between teacher, monitor and pupils. Edmund had remarkable success in blending this system with the personal elements so familiar to him which characterised his early education at a local hedge-school run by an Augustinian friar.
The schools in Mount Sion were so successful that within a few decades the entire social and commercial atmosphere of Waterford was transformed. We may ask, why? Edmund was familiar with the business/commercial workings of the city. He understood the needs and requirements of employers. Career guidance and curriculum development were practised here two hundred years ago. On leaving school the boys were trained for positions that suited them. The businessman turned teacher, - eminently practical, eminently pragmatic, - had a clear view of the needs of the time, and how they could be addressed.
I'm told that the most important relic of Edmund's is an old bakehouse and tailor's shop here in Mount Sion. The hungry boys were given fresh bread, baked on the premises, each morning. They were also supplied with clothes, especially for occasions of importance, their First Holy Communion or the interview for their first job. Records exist detailing the huge sums of money spent annually in providing clothes and footwear for the children. When Edmund's own resources became scarce, donations were received from all quarters in Waterford city, including Catholic, Protestant and Quaker.
On his death in 1844, the people of Waterford were anxious to build an appropriate memorial. The very building in which we are today, built within a year of Edmund's death, provided a chapel for the community and school, and a classroom for the pupils. Edmund Rice lived in a society which was very different from the Ireland of today. O'Connell, the Liberator, and Bianconi were his contempories. He certainly could not have imagined the extraordinary rate of change over the last two centuries. Yet the vision of Edmund Rice is as valid today as it was two centuries ago. I'm sure he would approve of these developments; the chapel houses this impressive audio-visual and interpretative centre; the classroom directly below is home to the highly acclaimed Mount Sion Silver Band. The practical use of these amenities reflects the practicality of Edmund Rice.
The range and scope of the events marking the 150th anniversary of the death of Edmund Rice are impressive indeed.
I note that the Brothers continue to turn their attention to the poorest and most deprived areas on the globe. Brothers are living with the poor in the shanty towns of Peru and Paraguay. Indian Christian Brothers originating from Edmund's time are addressing the manifold problems in their own country and in The Gambia and Sudan. Even before he died Edmund's Brothers had reached Australia. I know that you will celebrate the centenary of your arrival in Africa in 1997. From the townships of South Africa to the refugee camps in Sudan, from your work with the Masai people in Kenya to providing water supplies in Ghana, you are meeting needs where you find them today. You are continuing in the spirit of Edmund Rice, carrying his vision all over the world "lifting up the poor".
Neither Church nor State give honours freely. Following a thorough investigation Pope John Paul II, declared Edmund Rice Venerable on April 2nd 1993. To mark the centenary of his death, a special postage stamp was issued in 1944; An Post is doing likewise this year. Many of the residential developments in the city also give recognition to the work of Edmund Rice; Monastery Street, Mount Sion Avenue, St. Ignatius Street and Rice Park. In recent years The Corporation named the new bridge over the Suir linking his native Kilkenny with his adopted Waterford, Edmund Ignatius Rice Bridge.
I am very honoured to have been invited by your Superior, Brother Hegarty, and your community to open your Edmund Rice Centre. I congratulate your curator and chairman, Brother Keane and the 1994 Waterford Anniversary committee on bringing this timely initiative to fruition. Though your numbers may be smaller than in the past, your influence continues. You have a long history. You continue to adapt as circumstances change. Today you commemorate the past, but more importantly you look to the future.
I want to put on the record my personal tribute to your work as brothers in the world of 1994. I speak on behalf of thousands of people, both in Ireland and abroad, to whom your lives and work are dedicated.
Guím rath Dé ar obair na mBráithre; gura fada buan sibh anseo i gCnoc Síon; fógraím Ionad Éamonn Iognáid de Rís ar oscailt.