Christopher Moran, Chairman of Co-operation Ireland addressed the 9th annual All-Island Pride of Place Awards on Saturday 4 November 2011.
Mr. Moran was joined by Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan TD and Pride of Place Committee Chairman Tom Dowling to present the awards to the recipients. A total of 45 awards were handed out to a range of community and local development groups from across the island of Ireland that demonstrated their achievements in working together to enhance their local community, and the lives of people living in their local area.
You can read the full text of his speech below.
Pride of Place 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of Co-operation Ireland may I warmly welcome you to this evening’s Pride of Place gala awards ceremony in Gorey. In particular, I’m very pleased to welcome Phil Hogan, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, who I know, shares our vision for supporting and developing local communities, and who will address us shortly.
Everything we do at Co-operation Ireland is about enabling and empowering communities, helping them to help themselves. For that reason we’ve been running ‘Pride of Place’ now for almost a decade throughout the length and breadth of the island.
Now, you don’t need me to tell you about the historic links John F. Kennedy’s family have with the Wexford area, but JFK was very much a believer that bottom-up rather than top-down change was the way to transform society – “Ask not what America can do for you, but what you can do for America”.
Our ethos in Co-operation Ireland is similar and is manifest by the Pride of Place Awards – if we can paraphrase, the Awards are about asking not what your community can do for you, but what you can do for your community.
For the last 30-years Co-operation Ireland has been helping build peace on the island. We are passionate about helping people live in a shared society. Our cross-community and cross-border projects are targeted at helping people learn about each others’ cultures and traditions, and to learn to respect one another.
But, fostering those attitudes at an individual and community level requires confidence, especially as many people still live in the shadows of real and tangible fears, scars from recent troubles which are still healing.
Pride of Place is all about building that confidence, developing community cohesion and sense of being. From a position of security, strength and civic pride it is possible to reach out in generosity.
This year’s visit by Queen Elizabeth, hosted by former President, Mary McAleese, to Ireland is an example writ large of how reconciliation can take place when people act in such a spirit of generosity.
Since their first dialogue at Crosby Hall in 2005 under the auspices of Co-operation Ireland, they understood the impact of their relationship and how it sets the tone for the discourse between these islands.
Co-operation Ireland has been integral to that delicate choreography, with events on both sides of the Irish Sea and the fields of Flanders where both President McAleese and the Queen first recognised all of the fallen Irish in the First World War.
This year’s visit was a culmination of many years work; a seminal moment in the history of the UK and Ireland, and a reminder that a meeting of minds and of people, can, if nurtured, change the world around us.
In that light, we look forward to working with the President elect, Michael D. Higgins, who will become Co-operation Ireland’s new joint patron with the Queen, to building upon those truly historic events.
I’d also like to say a big thank-you to Tom Dowling, for his ongoing work as Chairman of the Pride of Place Committee, with whom we run the awards in conjunction with. We are indebted to him for his leadership, to his judges who give so freely of their time and to Wexford County Council for their hospitality and generosity in hosting this year’s event.
Ultimately, however, Pride of Place is only possible because of you, because of your civic pride and your willingness to give something back to your community. This is your evening and a celebration of your commitment to your neighbours.
As I started with JFK, I thought I’d also finish with him – a nugget of wisdom to help motivate all us to keep doing what we’re doing, even if the returns are not obvious.
Recounting a story about a French Marshall, JFK told the tale that the Marshall once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, ‘In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!’
Likewise, peace and communities have to be nurtured and tended over time. I wish you well in your endeavors, and assure you that Co-operation Ireland is here to do what we can to help.
Thank you.
