Speech at an Event to mark the 80th Anniversary of Drimnagh Residents’ Association
Mourne Road, Drimnagh, Dublin, 9th May 2016
A Cháirde go léir,
It is my great pleasure to join you today to mark the 80th anniversary of Drimnagh Residents’ Association. I extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Peter Burke and all of the Associations’ members for the kind invitation to participate in your celebrations. May I also thank all of you here for your warm welcome to your vibrant community.
This area has a rich and illustrious history, of which the Drimnagh Castle is an imposing reminder; it is the site of many legends and stories associated, in particular, with the Norman names of Strongbow, Hugo de Bernivale, and, of course, Marion de Bernivale, whose tragic love story with Desmond has been immortalised in song and poetry.
This morning we are celebrating a much more contemporary legend, that of the birth, 80 years ago, of the first ambitious public housing development in independent Ireland, and the foundation of this Residents’ Association, whose members have, over the years, made of Drimnagh the strong and flourishing community that we see today.
Occasions such as this one are important and uplifting, not least because of the infectious enthusiasm of you all gathered here, but also because they provide a valuable opportunity to pause and reflect on what has been achieved by your Association over the decades, and to look forward to the challenges ahead with renewed energy, commitment, and imagination.
I am delighted, therefore, to have this occasion to acknowledge, as President of Ireland, the great spirit with which the Drimnagh Residents’ Association has served the local community throughout the last 80 years.
As you know, the first houses built in this area, on what had been countryside prior to the 1930s, were built by a private company. Those houses were soon complemented by a large-scale public housing development undertaken by the Dublin Corporation to alleviate the overcrowding and poor living conditions then prevalent in the Dublin inner city tenements.
The Residents’ Association was formed in response to the failure of the developers to fully provide for the needs of the new residents. While the Association’s concerns were initially limited to housing issues, the scope of its responsibility has grown over the years to include such matters as transport, communication and lighting; all of the key elements that go to ensure the needs of a healthy community.
Over the years, this community has flourished and Drimnagh and the neighbouring areas have produced so many great men and women who have contributed so much to Irish society. In the interests of diplomacy, I will try to avoid any disputes as to whether these heroes and legends were born or lived in Drimnagh or Walkinstown or even Crumlin; but I am thinking especially of those local people who have made such an incredible impact in the areas of sport and culture.
On the cultural side you have my good friend Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Bergin, Colm Wilkinson, James Keane, Sean Keane and Sean Potts. Then in the area of sport you have of course Brian Kerr, the great Tony Dunne, and Kevin Moran – who lived in Walkinstown but went to school in Drimnagh, as did Niall Quinn; in boxing you have the Sutcliffes, Kerrs, the Carruths and so many others; and in athletics our great international champion Eamon Coghlan.
For a small and young area, the list of the achievements of Drimnagh people is truly remarkable.
Today I would like to pay tribute not just to these household names, but also to the generous spirit of voluntarism with which the members of this Association have served the Drimnagh community year after year. May I salute your dedication, demonstrated on a daily basis, in looking after the concerns of your community, big and small, thus making Drimnagh a thriving neighbourhood with its own strong and unique identity.
Such willingness to support and care for others, to unite efforts in order to achieve collective goals, is not just beneficial to your community, it also contributes to building a more inclusive society. It enriches the life of our Republic as a whole.
We are very fortunate indeed in Ireland to be able to rely on a well of active citizens such as yourselves – people who are willing to act, not just on behalf of themselves and their families, but also on behalf of their communities, neighbourhoods, associations or professions. By dedicating their knowledge, skills and energy to a variety of community groups, trade unions, NGOs, or Tidy Towns committees, our citizens play an essential part in maintaining a vibrant democratic and civic life in towns, villages and cities across Ireland.
The programme of events you have put together to mark the 80th anniversary of your Residents’ Association is another illustration of your commitment to the Drimnagh community. From guided walking tours, to music events, photographic exhibitions and art competitions, to street parties and family days, you have given everyone – young and old - a chance to get involved and express their strong connection to this locality. The strong manifestation of interest sparked by these celebrations is also a reflection, I believe, of the deep sense of civic pride that exists in Drimnagh.
Housing developments, we must never forget, are not just about plans, structures or budgets. They are not just about the physical houses provided. They are about communities that are enabled to thrive and flourish. They are about people who are being acknowledged and encouraged to develop a proud sense of their identity, to nurture feelings of belonging that empower them to take charge of their present circumstances and imagine their future in a way that is both rooted and creative.
May I say, too, how delighted I am to be sharing this milestone anniversary in the history of your Association in a year when we are, as a nation, commemorating a milestone event in the history of our path to independence – the Easter Rising of 1916. Indeed, the history of the Drimnagh Residents’ Association is deeply connected to the founding moments of our State and, even more importantly, to the generous aspirations which animated the men and women who took part in the Rising.
Many of those men and women had a vision for the future of Ireland in which equality, dignity and social justice would be achieved. Many of them, being acutely aware of the devastating human consequences of poor housing in Dublin inner city, were calling forth an Ireland in which all citizens would be able to access decent housing for themselves and their families.
Throughout the decades that followed the Rising, those Irish revolutionaries, in particular the women, continued their social work, often getting involved in municipal politics. Dr. Kathleen Lynn, for instance, served on the Housing Committee of Rathmines Council. She and Madeline fFrench Mullen put forward several important proposals to the Government, in the late 1920s on housing, education and food schemes for children. Hannah Sheehy Skeffington was also elected to Dublin Corporation in those years, while Kathleen Clarke became the first lady Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1939.
Let us welcome the opportunity afforded by your 80th anniversary to reach back to the spirit of those years. Let us rekindle the idealism and the political voluntarism which drove the realisation of an ambitious public social housing project in Drimnagh in 1936.
We must never forget that, today as eighty years ago, access to decent and affordable housing is a basic human need – indeed it should be seen as a fundamental right which any state truly caring for the welfare of its citizens should seek to fulfill as a matter of utmost priority.
In today's Ireland, we have, as you are aware, a long way to go to fix our current housing crisis. It is my profound conviction that, alongside ambitious public action, the role of active neighbourhood associations like yours is more important than ever if we are to maintain the chain of community for the next generation.
Associations like yours know that housing is not primarily about financial assets or market optimisation, but about homes and the people that live in them. You have never lost sight of why homes and neighbourhoods really matter. They matter because they are so personal; they shape us and we shape them. They are the indispensable shelter under which to grow our families, the anchor we can retreat or come back to – a foundation for a life of security, friendship and sharing.
To conclude, I would like to thank you once again for inviting me here today, and to express again my appreciation for the great work you carry out, here in Drimnagh. I wish you the very best in all of your future endeavours. May the Drimnagh community continue to prosper and thrive for many decades to come!
Comhghairdeachas libh go léir agus go maire sibh, ar a laghad, an céad!