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Remarks at the 2012 Irish Rural Link Conference

Letterfrack, Co. Galway, 11th May 2012

Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo i bhur measc inniu. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte chaoin agus cneasta.

It is a great pleasure to be here today in Letterfrack at the 2012 Irish Rural Link Annual Conference. I would like to express my thanks to Seamus Boland and all the team at Irish Rural Link for your kind invitation to speak at this event. I would also like to particularly welcome all conference participants here today.

Seamus in his letter of invitation to me spoke of how this conference both celebrates your work over the last 21 years and renews your commitment to the support of rural communities. For Irish Rural Link there is something very special about this event, in this year, as it was here in Letterfrack, twenty-one years ago, that your organisation was founded - its aims clear as they were admirable - to help develop rural communities and to help those communities become more sustainable. To your great credit you place a particular emphasis on helping those who may be isolated and marginalised in rural areas.

We know that this isolation affects many, many people on this island. The links that are forged through participation can and do enhance people’s lives. Social interaction is essential for our emotional well-being. However, there are people who live in isolation not just in rural Ireland, but also in our towns and cities. That isolation can have devastating consequences. For example the instance of suicide in Ireland is worrying not least amongst older men. A report published in 2010 tells us that during the ten years period 1997 – 2006 there were 921 suicides in the over 55’s age group in Ireland of which 75% (691) were men and 25% (230) were women. (Source - International Psychogeriatrics Association – Suicide and Deliberate Self Harm in Older Irish Adults, 2010).

Isolation can lead to unforeseen situations. This year we learned of the sad passing of a man in Wexford who died at Christmas and was only discovered three months later when a passerby noticed that Christmas tree lights still burned in his house. A reminder, if one is needed, that we can be surrounded by people and yet alone. Thankfully there are many organisations and individuals who work tirelessly to combat isolation and as a consequence ensure such stories are fewer than they might be. Irish Rural Link are to the forefront in that endeavour.

We in Ireland are known and have a reputation for our warm and welcoming ways, our sense of community, our outreach to those less well off at home and in many far flung places throughout our world. Everywhere I go I meet people who do immeasurable good, enormously generous and caring people who work tirelessly to help others and to alleviate problems such as isolation.

[Tá clú agus cáil orainn in Éirinn i ngeall ar an fáilte mór a chuireann muid ar fáil, i ngeall ar ár spiorad pobail agus ár bhflaithiúlacht dóibh siúd atá in ísle brí sa bhaile agus in áiteanna eile ar fud an domhain. Bhuail mé le daoine ar gach turas a rinne mé a oibríonn ar mhaitheas daoine eile i gcónaí. Is daoine flaithiúla agus cineálta iad seo a oibríonn go dian chun cabhair a thabhairt do dhaoine eile agus chun na fadhbanna a bhaineann leis an t-uaigneas a laghdú].

The strength, vibrancy, relevance and diverse nature of our Community and Voluntary sector is demonstrated in the fact that it is comprised of more than fourteen thousand charities and not-for-profit organisations, providing so many essential services including for example social care, childcare, eldercare, health services, education, and support for the environment, sport and culture.

And though we are very aware of the life-enhancing and often life-changing work these organisations effect in the lives of many, the value of the not-for-profit sector in relation to the economic well-being of our country is sometimes understated, particularly when we consider that the sector employs over 100,000 people in Ireland.

This is in addition to the thousands of unpaid volunteers working away in every parish, village and town in the country – from Tidy Towns Committees, to serving on school boards to coaching football teams – the list is endless. They are the very epitome of what good citizenship is. What they do, they do not in search of recognition or thanks or affirmation of any kind but they are richly deserving of all of those.

We are blessed to have this veritable army of remarkable, generous human beings working to make life in Ireland better for everyone and again it is such volunteers who sustain the large number of community and voluntary organisations represented by Irish Rural Link.

[Tá an t-ádh dearg orainn go bhfuil an grúpa flaithiúil den chéad scoth seo againn. Oibríonn na daoine sa ghrúpa seo ar mhaitheas saol níos fearr a bhaint amach do gach duine in Éirinn agus arís tá líon ard na n-oibrithe deonacha seo ina mball de na heagraíochtaí pobal agus deonacha atá ag Rural Link.]

Irish Rural Link offers tangible, meaningful support to communities in Ireland through providing an important network for rural groups and individuals to voice their needs and concerns, share their experiences and present their case to policy-makers at local, national and European level. Your success is evidenced in that now, 21 years later, you represent almost 500 community groups and play a critical role in bringing people together to work and achieve change for the good of rural communities.

There is a wide range of social and community initiatives in existence across Ireland, all of which are only possible because radical new alliances have formed between communities, voluntary agencies, government and business. This is encouraging as the level of professionalism, skill and cooperation that now exists in communities and within the voluntary sector in Ireland has never been greater than it is today. That this has happened is in no small way attributable to organisations such as Irish Rural Link who provide essential training and research for their members.

Irish Rural Link aims to help those in particular who are experiencing marginalisation as a result of poverty and social exclusion. Through its system of linking in with those who are working and involved in their communities, Irish Rural Link is well positioned to know the core issues that the most vulnerable people in rural areas are facing and to highlight these problems, conduct research and participates in forums where appropriate policies can be supported and advanced.

I congratulate you for all you have done in the past 21 years, all you continue to do to make our communities and our country a better place to live for all.

Is iontach an obair ata ar siúl agaibh. Comghairdeachas libh sa blian speisialta agus stairiúil seo. Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.