Remarks at a Reception for ISPCC Volunteers
Áras an Uachtaráin, 31st May 2012
A Dhaoine Uaisle, tá fáilte romhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin anocht.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you are all very, very welcome here to Áras an Uachtaráin this evening.
I welcome many groups to this house, but occasions like this are always a special privilege for me; because they are occasions that strongly reassure me that, despite the materialism that so insidiously gained a footing in sections of our society in recent years, we have remained at heart a kind and caring people; a people who instinctively look out for others and a people who have never lost our natural sense of community.
Our Society is one of Ireland’s oldest charities, and the only organisation in Ireland providing 24 hour support services through the Childline service. Your vision, ‘to see an Ireland where all children are heard and valued’ challenges us all to work for an Ireland where the views of children, their dreams, their goals, their experiences are not only heard, but responded to in our policies, in our services and in the way we construct our society and our discourse.
Tá na tréithe sin ag gach duine sa seomra seo anocht – tréithe atá tábhachtach dúinn mar mhuintir na hÉireann. Tuigeann sibh uilig an tábhacht a bhaineann le saoránacht ghníomhach. Tuigeann sibh an ról atá agaibh maidir le sochaí atá ceart agus cóir a chruthú; agus tuigeann sibh go bhfuil sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go dtugtar cothrom na féinne do gach duine ar oileán na hÉireann.
(All of you here this evening represent those qualities, qualities which are such an important part of our national fabric; all of you appreciate the importance of active citizenship; the value of playing your part in creating a fair and just society; and the real significance of creating, as far as possible, an equal playing field for all our citizens.)
When I was inaugurated as President of Ireland last year I committed to seeking to achieve an inclusive citizenship where every citizen participates and everyone is treated with respect. Protecting children must be the first and most important step towards achieving the kind of society of which we can be proud.
In a few short years we will be commemorating the centenary of 1916 and the drawing up of that Proclamation that obliged us to ‘cherish all the children of the nation equally’. There are many respects in which we failed in meeting this aim following the foundation of the state: children were not equal in terms of freedom from hunger, housing, health and access to education. The society that was inherited and which was continued was a deeply unequal one and great inequality remains.
While as a state we have failed in this duty many times in the past, we have learnt important lessons from the recent scrutiny of so many of those failures. Today we are moving forward as a country with a new focus on the rights of children and on the collective responsibility of the state and of society to protect them from harm.
The new Department of Children and Youth Affairs has the primary role of harmonising policy in areas that affect children such as early childhood, care and education, youth work, child welfare and protection and research on children and young people. It will play a leading role in ensuring the rights of children are respected within any new policy development across government and that future policy is developed cognisant of the views and perspectives of children.
There is still a lot of work to be done in this area, work that would be impossible without the selfless giving, generosity, genuine and deep concern of people like you. There is no doubt that we are living through a time when volunteering and active citizenship - and the sense of community solidarity that prompts them – are more needed than ever before, more relevant than ever before, and more infused with potential for positive change than ever before.
In this room a week ago, I launched “Being Young and Irish” – an initiative aimed at hearing the voices of 17-26 year olds about what kind of country we have, what we wish to create and how this can be achieved. As we commence this initiative, I cannot say what the outcome will be. But of one thing, I am sure – Ireland has a valuable resource in our young people; not just for the future but for the present - their energy, their originality, their loyalty and their honesty, can contribute immensely to a transformed Ireland, to an Ireland of which we can be proud, at home and abroad, if only they are allowed make that contribution.
We must be similarly respectful of the voices of children – even as those voices are still maturing to full expression and eloquence. We must ensure that their rights are fully protected right now and not regarded as a potential entitlement to be vindicated once they achieve adulthood. And we must redouble our collective efforts so that no child in Ireland has to endure a dark hour of cruelty or neglect as a result of failure by society or the state.
Already, all of you here have done so much to assist the many children who turn to the ISPCC in their hour of need. You provide a listening ear, raise much needed funds, support children on our streets and in so many other ways do so much to cherish our children, to help move them out of their shadowed and difficult existence and to give them that all important hope for their future.
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil libh as bhur ndianiarrachtaí le linn ‘ISPCC Volunteer Appreciation Week’ agus as an lámh cúnta a thugann sibh don ISPCC. Is mór an phribhléid dom buaileadh libh anseo in Áras an Uachtaráin anocht agus guím gach rath ar bhur n-obair luachmhar amach anseo.
During this ‘ISPCC Volunteer Appreciation Week’ I would like to thank you all for the many, many hours you dedicate to helping the ISPCC with its vitally important work. It is a true privilege to meet you here in Aras an Uachtaráin this evening. I wish you every success as you continue with your valuable work.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.