Remarks at the launch of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Media Initaitve Collective
Darndale/Belcamp Resource Centre, 12th September 2012
A chairde go léir – tá an-áthas beith in your measc inniu. Míle buíochas as an gcuíreadh agus an fáilte sin.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to be here this morning to join you in celebrating an important milestone for Darndale Belcamp Resource Centre and the wonderful Media Initiative Collective Exhibition. I would like to thank Margaret Downey and the staff and board of the Resource Centre for their kind invitation to attend your ten years’ celebrations, and also all of you for that very generous welcome.
When I was inaugurated as President of Ireland I stated that my Presidency will be one of transformation, recognising and building on the many positive initiatives already under way in communities. For twenty years now the Darndale Belcamp Resource Centre has been exemplifying true community mobilisation at its very best. The success of this resource is a resounding demonstration of the great strength and determination that exist in local communities. It also reminds us all of the enormous wealth of skill, knowledge and talent that exists within each community, and of just what can be achieved when members of a community come together to share those assets in a spirit of solidarity and co-operation.
The variety of services provided by this Centre is truly impressive, ranging from social welfare information to community transport, and from financial and legal advice to secretarial support for local groups. However, it is the innovation, generosity and sense of collective effort, which is so clearly evident throughout the Centre – that is the memory I will take with me today from the Darndale-Belcamp Resource Centre. It is something that has been genuinely uplifting and inspiring to witness.
Of course, the reason we are all gathered here today is to launch the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Media Initiative Collective, yet another example of the great reservoir of creativity and imaginative thinking that exists within the Darndale-Belcamp community.
I know that the mission statement of the Media Initiative Collective is to prevent drug misuse through education and training, and also to increase local participation in the arts and music. There can be no doubt that, over the ten years since its inception in 2002, this valuable project has changed the lives of many people, opening doors into further education and providing employment opportunities in the arts that might once have seemed unobtainable.
I have stated, time and again, my belief that the cultural space is wider than the economic space – that culture is a right, a part of citizenship, and that the arts are a vehicle for citizen participation. It is truly inspirational to see how this community has identified the benefits of bringing the arts right into the heart of their society and into their everyday space. Through this project’s training courses on Sound Engineering, Video Production, Graphic Design, Photography and Communications; its evening classes in music; and its wide and impressive range of community media services, it has facilitated individual and community expression through art, allowed new voices to be heard and opened up new transformational possibilities for many people, including those on the margins of our society.
Coinneofar an cur in iúl pearsanta trí na healaíona ar bun mar ghné thábhachtach den tsochaí, gné a spreagann dioscúrsa folláin faoin staid ina bhfuilimid mar shochaí agus céard a theastaíonn uainn sa todhchaí. Inniu thaispeáin mic léinn Chomhthionscnamh na Meán dom deich mbliana i saol an phobail seo, mar a chonaic siad féin é. Thaispeáin siad dom an sprid iontach a mhaireann i bpobail Dharndál agus Belcamp agus chomh maith leis sin an chaoi a gcuireann an sprid sin an pobal ar a suaimhneas, agus an chaoi a dtugann sé taca cómhalartach agus braistint an chomhuintearais dóibh san uair seo agus dúshláin mhóra roimh an náisiún. Is nithe iad sin atá fíorchumhachtach agus daoine ag cur in aghaidh an éadóchais, na díomá agus an dímhothaithe mhilltigh.
[Personal expression through the arts will continue to be a vital element of society, one that encourages healthy discourse about where we are as a society and what we want from our future. Today the Media Initiative Collective students have shown me a decade in the life of this community, as seen through their eyes. They have shown me the great community spirit that exists in Darndale and Belcamp and also how, at this time of great challenge for our nation, that spirit offers the reassurance, mutual support and sense of belonging that is so powerful in countering despair, disappointment or destructive apathy.]
In one of his songs about urban deprivation, Bruce Springsteen says that “the poets around here don’t write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be”. Well the poets in Darndale and Belcamp are not standing back, they are writing their own narratives of transformation, taking positive ownership of change and enhancing the community for the better. What I have seen today augurs well for the future that the residents of this area so clearly aspire to and deserve. I congratulate everyone involved in this initiative, an initiative I am confident will continue to go from strength to strength.
Gheall mé, nuair a ghlac mé Oifig na hUachtaránachta, go gcuirfinn chun tosaigh pobail chruthaitheacha atá i mbun athraithe dearfaigh ag an leibhéal áitiúil agus go ndéanfainn sin trí aitheantas a thabhairt ar an stáitse náisiúnta do na rudaí atá bainte amach acu. Táim sásta an deis sin a bheith agam inniu agus molaim cónaitheoirí Dharndál agus Belcamp as a meanma dhobhriste.
Molaim, chomh maith, mic léinn thionscadal Chomhthionscnamh na Meán as a bpaisean agus a dtiomantas don chur in iúl trí na healaíona. Is anois, níos mó ná riamh, a theastaíonn bhur gcuid fuinnimh, bhur smaointe agus bhur gcruthaitheacht uainn; is mór is fiú bhur gcion tairbhe agus sinn ag obair le chéile chun todhchaí bheoga chuimsitheach a thógáil dár saoránaigh go léir.
[I promised, when I became President of Ireland, to champion creative communities who are bringing about positive change at local level by giving recognition to their achievements on the national stage. I am glad to do so today and commend the residents of Darndale and Belcamp for their unbreakable spirit. I also commend the students of the Media Initiative Collective project for their passion and commitment to expression through the arts. Now, more than ever, we need your energy, your ideas and your creativity; you have much to contribute as we work to build creating a vibrant, inclusive future for all our citizens.]
Finally, I would like to thank all of you here today again for providing me with such a warm welcome and I wish you all very happiness and success in the future.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.