Remarks at the Launch of Dundalk Youth Centre’s New Community Arts Programme 2012
17th September 2012
A Dhaoine Uaisle, agus ar ndóigh a dhaoine óga go léir atá bailithe anseo inniu, tá an-áthas bheith i bhur measc inniu. Míle buíochas as an cuireadh agus an fáilte.
I am delighted to be here this afternoon in Dundalk to launch Dundalk Youth Centre’s new Community Arts Programme for 2012. Thank you for that very warm and generous welcome. My thanks too to Senator Mary Moran for inviting me to this very special event and to the young people who have greeted me so enthusiastically with such a fine exhibition of the wealth of creativity here at this wonderful facility.
I have spoken before of the importance of creating an inclusive citizenship where every citizen participates and everyone is treated with respect. The work and focus of the Dundalk Youth Centre presents a truly positive vision of what it means to be a citizen in Ireland; an inclusive Ireland which recognises the aspirations, creativity and potential of every citizen.
Here in this centre young people are not only enabled to identify and develop their creative talents, but are also supported in their journey towards active citizenship through a broad range of innovative services and facilities that combine health supports with the arts and youth programme. The counselling and other supports help to ensure that vulnerable young people, at risk of addiction and other self destructive behaviour, are welcomed and assisted to realise their potential and face a more positive future. Through facilities such as the youth cafe and the meditation room young people are also provided with the opportunity they need to socialise in a safe environment or to find a reflective space, away from the stresses and pressures of daily life.
Not only am I delighted to see so many young people here who are the focus of the centre, but I am pleased to hear that so many of them were so involved in deciding upon which activities would be included in the arts programme here at Dundalk Youth Centre. That is a key strength of the programme; along with its diversity which very accurately mirrors the richness of the many differing perspectives and contrasting ideas that the young people here in Louth have to offer. The integration of the health supports in this arts and youth centre is one of the important outcomes from the involvement of young people in the design of the service and I want to congratulate all those agencies who contribute to this holistic programme.
The vision of Dundalk Youth Centre is very important. To create a supportive relational environment where young people in the community are welcomed, valued and encouraged to get in touch with, and express, their individual gifts through creativity and the arts is so very important to the formation and development of our young people. It is insightful thinking as it is enlightened thinking. And the variety of activities contained within the Arts Programme is impressive: from song writing to digital photography, film making to dramatic improvisation, clay modelling and many, many other artistic pursuits in the three main areas of Music, Drama and Visual Arts. As a former Minister for the Arts,
I am well aware of the transformative potential of the arts in our lives.
The Spanish artist Pablo Picasso once said that “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.“ Community activities such as this one, focussed on awakening and developing the creativity of our young people, and introducing them to the many, many ways we can express that creativity, are a great place to start in addressing that question.
The arts play a crucial role in helping us to communicate with those around us in our own unique ways, to collaborate, to share, to express ourselves. They teach us to think creatively and to embrace diversity and differing perspectives. As a community Dundalk has identified the benefits of taking the arts out of the theatres, galleries, concert halls, studios and other separate spaces and bringing them right here into an everyday space in order that creativity can be nurtured and encouraged in all its young people.
Nuair a insealbhaíodh mise i m’Uachtarán ar Éirinn chuir mé béim ar an tábhacht a bhaineann le foinse sin na cruthaitheachta inár bpobail a spreagadh agus lena chinntiú go bhfaigheann gach páiste an deis le hiad féin a chur in iúl ar bhealach cruthaitheach.
[When I was inaugurated as President of Ireland I emphasised the importance of encouraging that seedbed of creativity in our communities and ensuring that each child has the opportunity for creative expression.]
Some of the young people who attend the Arts programme here in Dundalk may decide in years to come to make their living in the world of the Arts, enriching the social, cultural and economic development of this country. Others may have begun to discover new interests or talents that can only enhance their lives later on. And many more will discover that, wherever life may lead them, they will have benefitted from the opportunities they have received here in the Dundalk Youth Centre and will have experienced and developed an understanding of the importance of creative thinking in all walks and areas of life. That is a wonderful gift to give. It will add true value to all they do as they craft their own personal future.
I would like to conclude by congratulating everyone involved in the Dundalk Youth Centre and all of those who have assisted with the development of this new and vibrant Arts Programme. The programme is an exciting example of a creative community that cherishes young people and understands the necessity for encouraging and enabling young people to become active and full participants in their communities and in wider society.
I am very pleased to have been invited to launch this Programme, a programme
I am sure that will encourage many young people living and growing up in Dundalk to make their own imaginative and practical contribution to the shaping of our shared future.
Comhghairdeachas libh áris. Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl agaibh anseo. Gurb fada buan sibh.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.