PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE OPENS “URBAN/RURAL DAY” AT TAGHADOE, MAYNOOTH CO. KILDARE
PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE OPENS “URBAN/RURAL DAY” AT TAGHADOE, MAYNOOTH CO. KILDARE WEDNESDAY 6TH MAY, 1998
The President, Mary McAleese, today opened “Urban/Rural Day” – organised by the Agricultural Science Association with the support of Teagasc and the Irish National Teachers Organisation.
Welcoming the opportunity to perform the official opening, President McAleese noted that we were approaching the end of a century which has seen great changes in Irish society – when Ireland had changed from being a mainly farming society, but still proudly one of the key players in Europe as a producer of fine quality food. The changes that had come about - because of the accelerated pace of economic development, advances in farming and food production methods, coupled with our membership of the European Union, and easier access to education - had meant that there are now far fewer people living on farms and many more people living in towns and cities.
The President said that, because of the changes, there had been a tendency for town and city people to become distant from the farming community – especially when family links fade with time. She recalled the time when many city people had “country cousins” if they were lucky, and could spend holidays and breaks with them on farms and in small rural villages and towns. She said that Urban/Rural Day was bridging that gap that had come about through the loss of contact, making it possible to renew the links between town and country so that young people especially could get to know about each other lives and life-styles, and how much they share in the future of Ireland.
The President said that with modern agriculture methods such as machinery, transportation, processing and marketing – all of which are necessary if the farming community is to survive and prosper into the next millennium – there has been a ‘spin-off’ effect of creating a distance between the people who supply food and those who use it. In such a situation, she said, it is easy for myths to come about – and for people to simply lose sight of each other.
The President praised the initiative of the Agricultural Science Association and the Irish National Teachers Organisation, in organising this day for children with the support of Teagasc, saying it was a major step in correcting that trend, and in showing children at a most impressionable stage in their lives, how important it is to come together as a whole community, and to comprehend the interconnectedness of our lives – our mutual dependence – to reinforce and rediscover our membership of a large sprawling Irish family. She said that they were building bridges between people – bridges that will promote greater understanding and mutual respect between the urban and rural communities.
ENDS