REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF CASTLEKNOCK PARISH CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF CASTLEKNOCK PARISH CENTRE ON SUNDAY 21 JUNE, 1998
- I am delighted to have this opportunity to be with you in Caslteknock this afternoon – and to have been invited to join with you at Mass earlier. Castleknock is next door to my ‘new’ home – and I think it is only right that I should be with you to celebrate the opening of your new Parish Centre. I would like therefore to thank you for giving me this honour of opening your new Centre.
- Caslteknock – on the fringe of Dublin – across the majestic Phoenix Park has seen quite an amount of history – much of it because of its close proximity to Dublin City. And it was that proximity that was to see the Castleknock of today emerge out of a period of rapid building and development – with new estates springing up – with a huge influx of young people making homes for themselves – and coming to terms with their new identities.
- As is the case with the other new suburban areas I have visited since becoming President – Castleknock has had to cope with a great upheaval – with existing resources being stretched beyond capacity – and with so many young people in need of a spiritual dimension to their lives. The building of the new church in the 1980s filled that immediate need for a local place of worship – and this new Centre that we are opening today – addresses the requirement for a social centre – where parishioners can meet – where parish services can be organised – and where the people of the parish can be a community in the real sense of the word. It takes special people to do the work that turns a collection of houses and a random collection of individuals into a happy, dynamic, working community. It is their work, this centre, is a testimony to.
- So often in modern society – where traditional family structures have changed – and where there has been a tendency for people to opt out of the community in favour of their own individual needs and lifestyles – the breakdown in that sense of ‘community’ can lead to the isolation of individuals and a loss of a sense of identity. What you have done in Castleknock – in building this Centre - is to give a new impetus to that community spirit – and to provide the means by which the people of the parish can come together to make Caslteknock a place of which they can all be proud – and a place where people care for each other. These are the essential elements of a vibrant community.
- Building a Centre such as this requires a considerable amount of effort by a lot of people. I want to pay tribute to the many groups and individuals that have brought the building from its initial concept – through to its completion. I know that the original idea came out of the Parish Development and Renewal process which started in the early 1990s – with the priests and parishioners working in partnership to breathe new life into the parish. I know too that there was the eternal question of financing to be addressed – but that with a great deal of tenacity and perseverance – with a considerable amount of hard work – the project came to fruition with the women and men of the Parish Finance Group – the Core Group – the Parish Centre Group – and the Fund Raising Groups. This new Centre stands as a tribute to that tremendous effort – an effort for which you deserve the highest acclaim. We don’t acknowledge enough and hardly enough on gratitude to the ‘doers’ in our community. The people who sacrifice their private life and put their skills in the service of others. They do not do it for thanks and praise but to make the world we share a more comforting and comfortable place. They deserve our deepest gratitude.
- The process of building the Centre – and of completing the other projects such as the Church car park – has been a lesson in what can be achieved when people come together to pool their talents and resources – and work together for the good of all. In doing what you have done – you were meeting a need as you saw it. In the years and decade to come – as society changes – and as Castleknock changes – there will be other needs to be addressed. With the community spirit that I have seen today in Castleknock, I have no doubt that you can rise to the challenges that will arise in the future.
- In declaring the Centre open – I want to wish everybody in the parish the very best of luck with this new resource – which will be a warm focal point for everybody in the community to come together and play an active part in a Christian environment.