REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF A NEW RESPITE BUNGALOW AT THE ARDEEN CHESHIRE HOME
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF A NEW RESPITE BUNGALOW AT THE ARDEEN CHESHIRE HOME, SHILLELAGH, CO. WICKLOW
I am delighted to have been invited here today to formally open the new respite bungalow in the Ardeen Cheshire Home complex. Many thanks for your warm welcome. I would like to particularly thank Jarleth Tunney for his kind invitation, and the Chairperson, Macarten O’Gorman for his words of welcome.
We are now facing into the start of the third Millennium – and I appreciate you have probably already heard enough about the millennium to last you a lifetime – but it does provide us with a timely opportunity to look back on the many advances of the twentieth century. We have seen enormous strides in education, housing, employment opportunities and health care.
Social attitudes do not, however, always keep pace with technological and medical advances. It is only in comparatively recent times, that we as a society have started to have a more enlightened attitude towards people with disabilities. It is only now that we are starting to recognise that people with disabilities have rights – not least the right to speak with their own voice and to have a say in the type of care that is provided, care that is tailored to their needs and those of their families.
Given this relatively recent development, it is all the more extraordinary that this ethos of inclusion and participation has been at the core of the Cheshire Foundation from the very start.
We have come a long way since Group Captain Leonard Cheshire established the foundation almost 50 years ago. Yet his vision of “participation in decision-making by all residents in all that affects their vital interests” still sounds very fresh to the modern era. He led the way in what was then a very lonely journey. But today the integrity of his vision has been vindicated. It was and is the future.
As Patron of the Cheshire Foundation in Ireland, I am proud that this spirit of progressiveness is still the hallmark of the organisation. This is particularly true of Ardeen, the first Cheshire Home to have been opened in Ireland back in 1960, but still at the cutting edge of new forms of care such as this new respite bungalow.
Respite care plays a crucial role in services for people with disabilities. All of us – even Presidents – need a break every so often to recharge batteries. This is especially true for carers of people with disabilities. Whether because of a family holiday or illness or simple exhaustion, there are times when respite care becomes necessary. It removes a huge burden from carers to know that the person they are caring for will be well looked after in this period. We need careers to be well, to have the energy they need to sustain the round the clock caring they give. Their health and their wellbeing is a crucial element in the overall welfare of the person cared for.
It is equally important for people with a disability to have an occasional break. The variety, the break in routine, the new store of stories and memories, are important energizers. Respite care provides an outlet through which they can meet people outside of their immediate family and friends and widen their social circle. All of us – able-bodied and disabled alike – need to feel we have some sense of independence in our lives. Respite care can provide this sense of independence, even for a short time, to people with disabilities, while also supplying the support that they need.
I could not let this opportunity pass without paying a special tribute to all of the people who work either in a professional or voluntary capacity with the Cheshire Foundation, and particularly with the Ardeen Cheshire Home. It is very evident that your approach of putting the people who matter – people with disabilities and their careers – at the centre of everything you do, has immeasurably enriched the lives of a great many people.
One of the keys to your success, is undoubtedly the very strong partnership that you have developed with the statutory sector, carers and people with disabilities. The carers in our midst deserve particular credit. All too often, they are the unsung heroes, whose selfless dedication – often at a great price to themselves - keeps the whole show on the road. They deserve all the support we can give them and I know this development in respite care will provide a very real and practical answer to the prayers of many.
Finally, a word to the most important people of all, the people with disabilities who will use the respite bungalow. I hope it will be a place of great happiness and a place where new friendships are forged. I wish you, and everyone involved in the Ardeen Cheshire Home, continued success in all your endeavours and it gives me great pleasure to declare this new Respite Bungalow officially open.