Address by Mr. Noel Treacy TD.Minister for Science, Technology and CommerceAt the Official Opening of theAthenry Area Development Company’s New Offices, Railway Buildings, Station Road, Athenry, Co. GalwayOn Monday 18th June, 2001 at 8.30pm

Thank you for inviting me again this evening to Officially open your New Offices here in Athenry; to launch the new Anti-litter Waste Management Campaign; and to present European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) Certificates, to all of those Participants, who have successfully completed the recent Course.

On the occasion of the Official Opening of your New Offices, I would like to pay tribute to the many achievements of the Athenry Area Development Company, over the last number of years.

All one has to do is look at the most recent addition of ‘Athenry Together’, your Newsletter to see how successful you have been in assisting the Development of our Community. I would also like to thank Western Cellular, for Sponsoring the newsletter.

In my opinion, the Athenry Area Development Company is a unique Organisation, that works for the benefit of the whole Community. You are not bound by Sectoral Rules and Regulations, but rather you help the Local Community get the best out of the many Authorities and Agencies, that operate here in the West. The major Quality of the Athenry Area Development in my opinion is therefore, that it is a Community Development One Stop Shop that, is able to target, in an integrated way, the many Issues faced by the Local Business Person or Voluntary Worker. On all our behalf, I would like to sincerely thank Mr. Peadar Monaghan, your Chairman and Mr. Pat Foley, your Manager for their outstanding work in developing our Town. O’Gorman, Bergin and Associates are going to share this fine Building with you and I would also like to welcome them here this evening.

Athenry Area Development Company has initiated a number of Projects and has worked with a number of Partners, so that they could be implemented.

In particular, I was delighted to see that you had collaborated with Teagasc, in providing Training on Rural Tourism. I understand that Participants reached a very high standard. I also believe that you are arranging Leadership Training for key Individuals, in Foróige.

In addition to this, you have worked with the various Funding Agencies, such as the FÁS, Galway County Council, the Galway County Enterprise Board, Galway Rural Development, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland.

I would like to pay a special mention to Ms Ann McGovern, Director of Community Services in FÁS, who has been extremely helpful to this Company. ADC would not have been able to undertake the valuable work you have done, were it not for the support that you have been given under the Community Enterprise Programme by FÁS. I would also like to commend all of the valuable Work, that is being done in this Town, as a result of our Community Employment Scheme.

Among other things, this Scheme enables the Heritage Centre, to be run efficiently, provide Secretarial backup in the ADC and the Construction of a New Pitch at St. Mary’s GAA Club, the current All Ireland Hurling Club Champions.

In addition, I would like to thank the many Members of the Local Community, who have put their hands into their Pockets and donated their hard earned Cash, so that ADC can be run successfully.

I would now like to turn to the Initiative, that we are launching here tonight, namely the ‘New Anti Litter/Waste Management Campaign, for Athenry’. This is a major Campaign, to tidy up and clean the whole Town and is being undertaken by the various Voluntary Organisations in Athenry, under the direction and leadership, provided by Galway County Council and the Athenry Area Development Company. I am pleased to say that Galway County Council have been at the forefront in Managing the Litter Problem.

Back in 1998 the County Council launched a very imaginative Litter Management Plan. In it, they rightly identified that the key issue to be addressed, which is Public apathy and lack of Awareness of the Litter Problem. I believe that once Awareness is raised, that is the key to initiating Action.

I hope that as a result of this Initiative, here in Athenry, that we will manage to change the current attitude, as it seems to be entirely acceptable to deposit Litter, just about Anywhere, be it chewing gum, empty sweet wrappers, cigarettes butts, etc. The Rural Community around Athenry, will also have to play the role. How many times have we seen silage wraps, carelessly thrown in gates and ditches?

One of the Initiatives, that will be implemented this year is the establishment of a Civil Amenity Yard. The purpose of this Yard will be to enable Householders bring their Rubbish, which can be segregated into different Types so that it can be Recycled, if at all possible.

In addition, more ‘Recycling Banks’ will be provided and ‘Anti-litter Signs’ and ‘Bins’ will be erected, thereby giving Everyone the opportunity not to be a Litter Bug. Only last week, a new Recycling Bank has been installed next door.

I believe this three-pronged approach will be very effective and will result in the entire Community, in taking even more pride in the Development of a clean, tidy and historic Athenry. I understand that Mr. Mark Molloy, our local Litter warden and Sinead Ní Mhannín from the Environment Department of Galway County Council, were instrumental in choosing Athenry, for this Anti Litter Campaign. It is up to all of us to ensure, that we repay their excellent judgement. We thank them sincerely, for their confidence in our town.

I would also like to remind Everybody here, that the Tidy Towns Competition is judged during the Summer Months, so that we have an even greater incentive, to ensure that this Pilot Programme is a resounding success. Now there’s a challenge! I have every confidence that we will do very well in this National Competition. The Clean up of this Town on Saturday 9th June last, was a great success.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers, all of whom, all worked very hard that day. Keep up the good work girls and boys! I would also like to thank our Local Road Sweeper, Mr. John Mulkerrins who does an excellent Job right throughout the year.

One of the key Projects, that you have been active in is assisting Business in their Start-up Phase, through the preparation of Business Plans. This is an extremely important issue for Businesses, because International Statistics show that if Business do not Plan their Start-up properly, they are more likely to fail. It is therefore very important that People prepare proper Business Plans and go about setting up their Business in a Professional way. I have heard many compliments about the Service that you provide and I would like, on behalf of the Local Community, to thank you sincerely for all of your valuable work, in this Area. The key indicator of your success is the growth in the Town, over the last few years.

Another significant area, that you are involved in is Training. No doubt, you all have read in the National and Local Media of the importance that our Government attaches to increasing the Skills of our Work Force. Improving the Skills of our Labour Force is critical, if we are to develop our Economy over the next Decade. Gone are the Days when unskilled People would be able to get Jobs in the Labour Market. It will be critical, that Everybody working in the Labour Market will have acquired the highest Skills possible and Participate in Training Courses, so as to ensure, that they are up to date in the latest Developments, in their chosen Profession. This now brings me to one of the pleasant tasks, that brings me here this evening, which is to present EDCL Computer Training Certificates to a number of Participants who have recently completed this excellent course.

Some of you may have heard me speaking on this issue before but I would just like to re-emphasise a few points, in relation to it.

This ECDL is now becoming widely accepted, as the key Qualification to obtain, so that you can demonstrate to your potential Employer, that you are Computer Literate. If you are already Employed it will increase your Productivity, whereas if you are not Employed, it will help you to participate in the Modern Information Society. For those of you, who will shortly possess the EDCL, it indicates that you have passed one Theoretical Test that assessed your Knowledge, on the basic concepts of Information Technology, and six Practice based Tests. These Tests assess your competence in using your Personal Computer, in working with Common Computer Applications, such as Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases and the use of Graphics. The EDCL is recognised as an Internationally accepted Certificate. I would like to compliment Nortel for their foresight in sponsoring this Programme. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Ms Maura Stewart, the ECDL course Tutor.

Not only did she manage the Course efficiently, but she also gave up her free time, on a number of Saturdays, to make sure that all Participants fully understood the different Modules of this Course.

I would now like to present the Certificates to all of those, who have completed the Full Syllabus of the European Computer Driving Licence. This Event here tonight, is a culmination of all of the hard work that you have done over the last number of months. I would like to heartily congratulate all of you on your personal achievement and I have no doubt that your experience with this Programme will benefit you all, throughout your Working and Personal Lives.

Congratulations to each and every one of you, and through you to Athenry Area Development Company, for vision and commitment to the historic town of Athenry.