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Speech during a Visit to Drumlin House Training Centre

Cootehill, Co. Cavan, 25th February 2014

Tá an-áthas orm an deis a bheith agam cuairt a thabhairt ar Drumlin House inniu agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le Robin Toner, Bainisteoir Drumlin House, as a chuireadh cineálta bualadh libh, agus gabhaim buíochas libhse go léir as an bhfíor-chaoin fáilte a chuir sibh romham.

[I am delighted to have the opportunity to visit Drumlin House today and I would like to thank Robin Toner, Manager of Drumlin House for his kind invitation to meet you and all of you for your generous welcome.]

It has been most enlightening to meet personally with some of you today and to be shown around this innovative centre. The practical quality assured training available here is an example of the invaluable specialist supports which make a real difference to the lives of people with a disability. It is also inspiring to know that the emphasis in Drumlin House has always been on “learning by doing” and on the use of community facilities, bringing the philosophy of the centre out into the community and ensuring it has become an integral part of this area and this society.

As President of Ireland I have met, and continue to meet, many groups and individuals who do impressive work to achieve a just and truly participative society. It has been truly heartening to witness the enormous commitment that exists, right across the country, to realising that concept of an inclusive culture; a society that regards citizenship as being built on equality, as valuing solidarity and as being rooted in caring. It has been truly inspirational to witness the extent to which we remain a country with many, many active participants willing and anxious to build a vibrant citizenship that respects the values of solidarity, community, justice and equality.

It is a concept that I am witnessing once again today in Drumlin House, an establishment that has played its own significant role in the much changed landscape we have seen emerge for citizens with intellectual disabilities in recent decades.  We know that sadly there was a time when members of our society with disabilities, whether intellectual or physical, were excluded from many, many aspects of everyday life, and unfairly stereotyped due to ignorance, prejudice or misinformation.  We also know that regrettably some of that stereotyping still lingers today within a society that no longer has the excuse of lack of knowledge, awareness or indeed many great examples of the potential, talent and skills that exist in abundance amongst those members of our communities who live with a disability.

Indeed, when I meet citizens like some of those I have met here today I never fail to be impressed by their determination, their energy, their courage and their resolve to participate fully in society.  I also never fail to be humbled by the range and variety of their achievements, achievements that both humble and inspire those of us with fewer obstacles to surmount.

We know, of course, that many of those obstacles have been reduced or eliminated with the application of targeted resources and attitudinal change. However, it is still true to say that people with an intellectual disability continue to be under-represented in many walks of Irish life. Facilities like Drumlin House are critical therefore if we are to continue to eliminate unnecessary barriers,  and free our society of some of the strongly rooted prejudices that still, unfortunately, exist in this country against those who are living with a disability.

Drumlin House is a space which has grown impressively since its establishment in 1982. Looking around me today it is difficult to believe that this is an organisation whose beginnings were so modest, providing services to just six people in its first year. Today you are an invaluable resource for sixty five adults with intellectual disabilities; and a place which has made an immeasurable difference across the years to many citizens who aspired to reach their full potential and make their own unique contribution to their communities.

It is greatly inspiring to know that Drumlin House is a FETAC accredited centre and everyone’s achievements are recognized through regular awards ceremonies; acknowledging the right of those with intellectual disabilities to have access to further education and to achieve qualifications which realise and celebrate their individual strengths and interests.

Maidir le Drumlin House agus an obair atá a dhéanamh ann, agus leis an iomad rudaí atá feicthe á gcur i gcrích ann, táim cinnte, gur mhisnigh sé daoine eile sa phobal agaibh súil a bheith acu gur féidir éirí leosan chomh maith; go bhféadfaidís-ne freisin aidhm a bheith acu an saol is mian leo a bheith acu ; go dtabharfaí cluas dá nglórtha; go mbeadh meas ar a gcuid tallann; agus go mbeidís sainithe de réir a scileanna, a gcumas, agus a gcuid féidearachtaí uilig, agus iad ag obair ar leas a bpobail agus na sochaí níos leithne.

[The work undertaken in Drumlin House and the many achievements it has witnessed have, I am certain, instilled in others in your community the expectation that they too can succeed; that they too can aspire to live the life of their choice; to have their voices heard; their talents respected; and to be defined by their skills and abilities and all of their possibilities as they work for the benefit of their community and wider society.]

Moreover, it is important to recognise that not only have you helped to develop role models for others with intellectual disabilities; but that many of those who have trained at Drumlin House are role models for any group of citizens that are determined to transform an unjust reality into a better and more inclusive future.

All of those who have taken part in training programmes here at Drumlin House and all of those who have worked so hard to make Drumlin House the successfully facility it is today, should be very proud of themselves.

They are people who have heroically worked on the very difficult interface between ignorance and understanding, between tolerance and intolerance, between prejudice and justice and between exclusion and inclusion. In seeking to remove the barriers often erected for those with disabilities, they have embraced the challenge of being the arrows of positive change and not the targets of an unjust status quo.

At my inauguration I stated that my Presidency would be one that celebrates all of our possibilities and would seek to build together an active and inclusive citizenship; based on participation, equality, respect for all and the flowering of creativity in all its forms.

It is because of resolute and committed people like those in Drumlin House, people determined to ensure that the lives of those with disabilities will not be impoverished by lack of opportunities, lack of education or lack of outlets for creative expression, that I know this vision can become a reality.

Ar deireadh, ba mhaith liom, uair amháin eile, mo bhuíochas a ghabháil libh uilig as fáilte a chur romham anseo inniu. Is mór an tógáil croí a thugann sé dom cuairt a thabhairt ar an áit seo a bhfuil sé mar sprioc leanúnach aici a chinntiú go mbíonn an ceart éifeachtach ag gach aon saoránach dár gcuid, a chion nó a cion a dhéanamh do shaol eacnamaíoch, sóisialta agus cultúrtha a bpobal, a sochaí agus a dtíre go deimhin.

[In conclusion, I would like to thank you all once again for welcoming me here today. It has been deeply uplifting to visit this place which consistently aims to ensure that every one of our citizens has an effective right, free from discrimination, to contribute to the economic, social and cultural life of their communities, their society and, indeed, their country.]

Today has been a reassuring affirmation that we continue to make progress in giving to all of our citizens opportunities to live a fulfilling and rewarding life.  However, we must all continue to set our sights high and keep our expectations raised with regard to what people with disabilities have a right to expect from disability services and from society in general.  By working in partnership we will achieve maximum independence, choice and inclusion for people with disabilities and we will realise the vision of a more equitable and responsive cross-sectoral service for all citizens.

I commend and thank all those of you who give of your time and skills to ensure the success of this facility and the implementation of a vision of the transformative power of skills development through individual person-centred planning; a vision that lies at the heart of Drumlin House.

I wish all those who attend this centre every deserved success in the future; a future where I hope you will be enabled to realise all of your possibilities.

Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.