Díseart,
Institute of Education and Celtic
Culture.
Dingle,
Co. Kerry,
Ireland.
|
|
President Offically Opens Díseart
Institute of Education and Celtic Culture
|
President Mary McAleese was in Dingle today,
July 24th to officially open Díseart Institute of Education and Celtic
Culture. The Institute which is located in heart of the Dingle peninsula
Gaeltacht, aims to enable people to access, understand, study and appropriate
Irish and Celtic culture through academic research, educational courses and
cultural activities. The President was joined at the ceremony by local
dignitaries, clergy, staff and students all of whom were treated to a selection
of traditional Celtic melodies by local performers.
 |
| Mary McAleese Pres.
of Ireland |
Speaking at the ceremony, President McAleese said,
"Díseart is about providing easy access to people from home and abroad
who want to grow in appreciation of our rich native Irish culture whether
through language, literature, spirituality or the other flourishing arts. We
are fortunate to be the inheritors of a deeply veined cultural heritage but we
are also fortunate to have here in Díseart such determined champions and
custodians of that heritage".
Díseart Board of Directors
Chairman, Professor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta believes that the
Institute can ensure a much-needed cultural rebirth through its range of
courses and research opportunities. " Our message is that diversity of culture
is of perennial value and enriches human life. It is my belief that
Díseart and its ideals will benefit strongly from the support that
President McAleese has shown today, for our voluntary effort to enhance the
position of Irish culture worldwide. President McAleese is well known for her
support of voluntary effort and has been described in Irish as being
íseal uasal, that beautiful phrase which means the natural gift of
combining dignity and humility. The position of our language will be enhanced,
our culture will be better known and valued, our art will be stimulated,
cultural tourism will have a focus, and the thirst for the spiritual dimension
will not be sated but become keener."
 |
| Mary McAleese Pres.
of Ireland with Mons. Pádraig ó Fiannachta |
Speaking at the opening Díarmuid Ó
Dálaigh, Executive Director said "Your visit a Uachtarán will
draw increased attention to the importance and uniqueness of Díseart. It
is unique as a community led, third level education initiative which designs
and delivers accredited courses and cultural programmes in partnership with
colleges and universities in Ireland and abroad. These hands-on courses attract
increasing numbers of international visitors and scholars as well as a large
cohort of locals to experience the riches of Irish culture in language,
literature, spirituality and the Arts. Examples of these courses include an Art
and Walking Pilgrimage, a Certificate in Blasket Island Literature and a
Diploma in Theology and Native Spirituality. The Board of Directors of
Díseart has in its development plan outlined the future courses and
programmes as well as the facilities necessary for their delivery. This
includes a building conservation plan, new lecture halls, library and
Information technology facilities, Artist studio, visitor centre, staff offices
and restoration of the walled gardens. We are optimistic that significant
funding will be forthcoming to bring this imaginative project to fruition. On
behalf of the Board, Staff and many friends of Díseart I thank you
sincerely President McAleese again for your recognition of and encouraging
words for Díseart".
 |
| Dr. Martin
McAleese, Mary McAleese Pres. of Ireland, Paidí ó Sé, and
Mons. Pádraig ó Fiannachta |
The building is home to a beautifully proportioned
chapel in which can be found twelve lancet windows created in 1924 by one of
the foremost stained glass artists of all times, Harry Clarke. President Mary
McAleese viewed the Harry Clarke windows, while local musician, Eoin Duignan
played 'New Beginings' a specially commissioned piece about the windows. A
non-profit making organisation, Díseart opened and began employing
permanent staff in 1999, with the aid of initial Government support through
Udarás na Gaeltachta. For details of its range of courses and research
opportunities log on to www.diseart.ie.
|
ENDS
|
Remarks
by President McAleese at the official opening of Díseart Institute of
Education and Celtic Culture,
Dingle,
Co. Kerry on
Wednesday 24th July 2002.
|
|
Tá gliondar croí orm bheith anseo libh
inniu. Go raibh mile maith agaibh as ucht bhur bhfáilte fhíor
chaoin.
Tá mé iontach sásta bheith ar ais sa
'Ríocht' agus cuireann sé lúcháir orm bheith libh
ag an ócáid seo . Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a
ghabháil leis an Ollamh Pádraig Ó Fiannachta,
Cathaoirleach Bhord Bainistíochta Díseart, agus le baill an
Bhoird, as an chuireadh seo agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in
iúl daoibh uilig as an fháilte chaoin a chuir sibh romham anseo
inniu san Institiúid Oideachais agus Chultúr Dúchais.
Nach fóirstineach agus nach fáilteach an foirgneamh
é seo mar ionad fá choinne obair Díseart: cur chun cinn
ár gcultúir fríd an teanga, an cheol, an damhsa agus an
bhéaloideas. Tá muid fá chomaoin mhór ag
Siúracha na Toirbhirte as an chlochar ollásach agus na
gairdiní áille a ghabhann leis a thabhairt don tionscnamh seo ar
léas fada. Is breá mar a bhaistíodh an áit -
Díseart - nó is cuan suimhnis ar leith é don
scoláire a bheadh i mbun taighde nó staidéir nó
marana go díreach. Ní beag mar a chuireann na heachtraí as
beatha Chríost atá léirithe i bhfuinneoga Ionracha Harry
Clarke le niamhracht an tí. Ceanglaíonn siad an t-áras seo
le foirgnimh go leor eile ar fud an domhain a bhfuil saothar laoch Eireannach
seo na gloine daite le feiceál iontu, ó Loch Dearg go
hÁras na Náisiún Aontaithe sa Ghinéiv, ó
Oileán Thóraighe go dtí mo sheanscoil féin,
Coláiste San Dominic i mBéal Feirste.
Díseart is
about providing easy assess to people from home and abroad who want to grow in
appreciation of our rich native Irish culture whether through language,
literature, spirituality or the other flourishing arts. We are fortunate to be
the inheritors of a deeply veined cultural heritage but we are also fortunate
to have here in Díseart such determined champions and custodians of that
heritage. The heart of Corca Dhuibhne is about as perfect a location as it is
possible to find not just for its intimate natural beauty but for its unbroken
links to the ancient Celts, to the Tuatha de Danann, and to the Irish language
with its enormous irreplaceable reservoir of stories of the people on whose
lives ours are built. But of course Díseart is about the future as much
as it is about the past. Here the casual student, the serious student, the
cultural tourist, the curious local, can each choose from a huge range of
courses as diverse as Web Design and Celtic Culture. Each can know the joy of a
new interest, a new skill, a new passion, the pride of adding something new to
the self, the fulfilment of friendships made with strangers. And this place can
take pride in the fact that as it takes each student on a journey into him or
herself, it also takes each on a journey into Irish culture.
That
culture is not like a cake that diminishes and disappears the more people it is
divided between. It is more akin to a well that keeps filling and refilling so
that each student has the chance to make his or her unique contribution to our
contemporary developing culture. Nor is that culture like the icing on a cake,
simply an adornment that sits on the thing that is more substantial. Our
culture is the leaven at the heart of our lives. It is what give us our very
particularity and education is the key to bringing it alive in the individual
and in the community. I hear that you have just held a very successful first
Music Summer School and I'm sure the sound of music in Dingle last week planted
the seeds of a very successful new venture.
Díseart - the word,
carries with it echoes of a refuge, a sanctuary. It can even mean a deserted
place but you have turned that meaning on its head. Instead you have created a
welcoming space where many students and visitors can enjoy the experience of
learning. You have brought vitality, energy and renewed hope to a remote and
magnificent part of our island home. To those who had the vision and the
gumption to see it through, I offer a warm thank you. I congratulate you for
all that you have achieved and wish you well as your future plans roll out
seamlessly, bringing the name of Díseart around the world and bringing
the world here to Díseart.
Deanaim comhghairdeas libh as a
bhfuil bainte amach agaibh, agus as a bhfuil a rún agaibh a chur i
gcríoch sa todhchaí, agus sibh i mbun Díseart a chur i
mbéal an phobail ar fud na cruinne. Fógraím
Díseart, an Institiúid Oideachais agus Chultúr
Dúchais, ar oscailt go hoifigiúil.
Gabhaim
buíochas libh arís agus guím rath Dé oraibhse agus
ar bhur gcuid oibre sna blianta atá romhainn amach. |
|
|
| Díseart, Institute of
Education and Celtic Culture. Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. |
|
|
