REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE MOUNTVIEW RESOURCE CENTRE, CLONSILLA
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE MOUNTVIEW RESOURCE CENTRE, CLONSILLA 9TH JUNE, 1998
I would like first of all to thank everybody here for the very warm welcome which you’ve given me this afternoon – and I would particularly like to thank the children from St. Philip’s – for providing me with the ‘Guard of Honour’ as I arrived at the school. I am very grateful too for having been given this opportunity to be with you today – to open the Mountview Resource Centre – and in so doing, to pay tribute to the hard work and commitment of the people of the parish – for bringing this Centre to what it is today.
Blanchardstown and Clonsilla have seen huge changes over the last twenty years – with whole new areas of development – new streets, districts and parishes literally teeming with people and - as is inevitable in places which develop almost overnight – a whole set of problems with facilities and services for struggling families – which mean that individuals and families can paradoxically find that – while they live in highly populated areas - they may be relatively isolated in living their own lives – in looking after family – or just trying to make ends meet. In those circumstances – especially where people are out of touch with their wider families – it can become difficult to break out of the cycle of isolation and mere existence – without some outside influence.
The setting up of the Mountview Development Group in 1987 was a significant first step in addressing the ‘suburban syndrome’. That initial push by a group of local women who were concerned for their place – and who could see that unless they did something about it themselves it probably wouldn’t happen by itself – was the essential catalyst which has brought us to where we are today. I want to pay tribute to those pioneering women in Mountview who had the courage and vision to do something for themselves and their neighbours – who were prepared to fill a gap in the provision of family and personal services. In doing what they did nearly eleven years ago – they laid the foundation for the Resource Centre – and in the process – liberated many lives and talents that have blossomed into the vibrant and healthy community that you have in Mountview today.
Since my inauguration I have visited many communities around Ireland – in towns, cities and villages. In practically every place I have been, I have been amazed at what people have been doing for themselves and their communities. It’s as though communities have come full circle from the days when it was the norm for neighbour to help neighbour – through the ‘fashion’ of people just looking out for themselves – or to ‘the authorities’ to provide services – to the realisation that communities are about people helping each other – and working together to meet their needs as they see them – and not as somebody in ‘officialdom’ sees them. That coming of age has happened all over Ireland – and is contributing in no small way to the growing prosperity that we have been enjoying in recent years.
A significant factor in our success has been the number and quality of talented people that we have. Very often, women who have decided to devote the early part of their married lives to keeping family together – to raising children so that they can have the best possible chance – can find that they themselves are being left behind – and see the prospects of a new chance at a career fade. It is groups like Mountview that are giving them that vital chance to make the best of their lives – to release hidden or dormant talents – and through empowerment – to give them the opportunity to take up further education or training – or to take up a career. In the process, the community itself is a real winner.
In opening the new Resource Centre, I want to commend every member of the community in Mountview – for supporting this project – and for making it happen. The new Centre is a living tribute to what you have been doing – and what you have achieved. I know that it has been the combination of a lot of local effort working with statutory and voluntary agencies. I would like to commend Fingal County Council who have played a significant part in this development – by allocating a premises. I would also like to pay tribute to Barnardos, Blanchardstown Area Partnership, the Neighbourhood Youth Project and the local community representatives - who have participated in the development of services at the Centre – and to those who have assisted in the funding of the project.
As the community develops and changes over time – so too do the needs of the community. You have been able to meet changing demands and overcome hurdles in the past. I have no doubt that in the years and decades ahead there will be new demands – and new obstacles that come with change. I know that you will have no difficulty in meeting the challenges of change – and in continuing to provide for the needs of the community and Mountview.