THE OPENING OF THE NEW PREMISES OF THE TIPPERARY WORKSHOP FOR THE HANDICAPPED
SPEAKING NOTES FOR THE PRESIDENT, MARY ROBINSON, ON 10 NOVEMBER, 1993 IN TIPPERARY TOWN
- I am delighted to be here today to formally celebrate with you the opening of the Tipperary Community Training Centre. The Tipperary Community Workshop for the Handicapped, which oversees the project, is a voluntary agency which has played a leading part in the development of services in this country for those who are intellectually disabled. Voluntary agencies have always been to the fore in pioneering new services and new approaches, and the Tipperary Community Workshop is no exception.
- The sensitive responsiveness to people in need can be witnessed through the work of so many voluntary groups in the social services, both at home and abroad. The State is now more directly involved in the provision of these services, in that it supplies significant financial support. The role of the voluntary agencies remains an essential one, however, with their tradition of expertise and true commitment to people with intellectual disability. In other countries, where only the State provides services, the human face given by the involvement of the voluntary sector is felt to be lacking.
- The establishment of new day care facilities, such as the Tipperary Community Training Centre here, represents a milestone in the practice of community care. Up until the mid-70s, residential care was virtually the only option available to people with disabilities throughout the country. The philosophy of community care has since been developed, and established. Community based services are now the preferred model of care in Ireland. Most families want to keep their children at home, with the assistance of adequate day services and back-up support. Indeed, demands from parents for a better life for their children have had a positive influence on the planning of services. Day services such as this are vital in facilitating the integration of people with intellectual disability.
- In order for day services to be at their most effective, there is a need for them to be as localised as possible within areas of population. As a result the person with intellectual disability remains visible in the community. Locally-based services also facilitate access, and ensure that good contact with families is considerably easier to maintain.
- All of these factors were taken into account in the decision to provide a sheltered workshop in Tipperary. In 1981 a voluntary committee was formed, on the recommendation of the South Eastern Health Board's Mental Handicap Committee, to provide a sheltered workshop in Tipperary Town which would have an emphasis on horticulture.
- A suitable building was purchased and was renovated under ANCO's Community Youth Training Programme. One instructor commenced the training of four people with a moderate intellectual disability in December 1983, while an Administrator undertook office work and fund-raising from various sources. The health boards, the European Social Funding and local fund-raising were the main sources for financing the project. The facility achieved Community Workshop status when people with mental illness were also admitted at the request of the Health Board.
- This present Training Centre is an off-shoot of the Workshop which began operation in the Autumn of 1992 to cater for those trainees in pre-vocational or vocational training. In addition clients were simultaneously accommodated in a new Group Home. The training complex now caters for a total of 78 trainees.
- I would like to take this opportunity to express my admiration of all those involved with the Workshop over the years and through whose efforts the services have progressed to the level we see here today. Much credit is also due to the South-Eastern Health Board for their support. The co-operation of both statutory and voluntary agencies in this manner is vital for an optimum return from the scarce resources available to services for people with intellectual disability.
- The amount of local support over the years for the workshop is a sign of the appreciation of the local community for the opportunities which it has created for its members. The high standard reached at the Tipperary Training Centre would not be possible without the continuous support which it has received from so many people, either through fund-raising, or through the gift of their time and expertise.
- Tipperary Workshop is another example of the progress which has been made in the development of services for people with intellectual disability in recent years. The work carried out here to enhance the quality of life for them is worthy of the highest praise. I would like to extend my congratulations once more to all those who participated in the realisation of the centre, and I wish you continued success in your work.
- I am delighted now to declare this Training Centre officially open.