Remarks by President McAleese at the Sign Language Interpreting Service Accreditation Awards, 1st October 2009
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur measc anseo ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom.
My thanks in particular to Anne Coogan, Chairperson of the Sign Language Interpreting Service for inviting me here on this very special occasion to acknowledge the accreditation of Irish Sign Language interpreters on behalf of SLIS. This is my first function as patron of SLIS and I am delighted to be here.
While everyone is familiar with the great efforts made over the years with regard to the promotion and protection of the Irish language and more recently Ulster Scots, ISL is the other lesser-known native language of this island. ISL is a uniquely visual and spatial language with its own distinct grammar. Not only is it a language of the hands but also of the face and of the body. It is the indigenous language of the deaf community in Ireland and it is testimony to the great resilience and community effort by generations of deaf people in Ireland that, despite attempts in the past to suppress ISL and replace it with "Signed English", this beautiful, indigenous language has been maintained with pride.
For hearing people, hearing is a foundation sense which, together with vision, is our primary means of interpreting and interacting with the world around us. Sound plays a very important part in connecting people in the hearing world. It is the most popular medium for hearing people to exchange information and the basis of communication, education, and entertainment. For most hearing people, the idea of life without sound is almost incomprehensible. For deaf people, the hearing world and hearing society is all around, tantalisingly close but at another level a universe away. Growing up with a profoundly deaf brother, a stand-out memory is of him tugging at my sleeve at noisy family gatherings, to say "remember me - I'm here too," as he struggled to be included in a hearing world that made so little concession to those who could not hear.
Access to so many everyday things, so much that colours and enriches life, is made smoother and easier where communication flows easily. It rarely flows easily for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Instead even the most mundane things may present an obstacle course that is draining and very trying. Simple communication is not always so simple even with those closest to them - with hearing parents, or siblings, next door neighbours and friends, work colleagues, local shops and pubs - for most people not only have no knowledge of ISL but are completely unskilled in effective communication with deaf people. Sometimes through a lack of knowledge, they can unwittingly cause offence by assuming that all deaf people can lip read or not taking the time and effort to ensure that deaf people are included in conversation.
There was a time too when it was wrongly and outrageously assumed, even by professionals in the field, that those who were deaf lacked intellectual ability. It condemned many in past generations to frustrating levels of inadequate education and under-achievement and it is to the great credit of so many deaf men and women that they transcended those additional obstacles and insisted on their right to the realisation of their fullest potential as individuals and as a community. SLIS and other organisations are important champions working to ensure a much better representation of the deaf community throughout our society.
It is autumn again and many people will be taking evening classes for fun or to advance their education and personal development. For most it is a straightforward matter but just stop for one moment and consider just how difficult such a simple thing can be for the deaf community if, as is most likely the case, no provision is made for sign language interpretation. The computer course they would like to do, the art appreciation course, the flower arranging course are all problematic because of communications and funding problems. It is just one example. Every deaf child, man or woman tells of the daily problems they face in accessing things like health services, social and legal services or education. They will also tell you how utterly different it all is when they have access to effective sign language interpretation. Sign language interpreting services of the highest quality are the key to building bridges between the hearing and the deaf, between the deaf and the world that is their world but which so often seems to exclude them unthinkingly.
The accreditation process that we are celebrating today provides the quality assurance that interpreters working on behalf of SLIS are of the highest professional standard and the customers who book them can have full confidence in their skills. Our deaf community needs and deserves access to the services and facilities that allow it and its members to stand on an equal footing and to pursue their fullest potential. I thank the Board of SLIS and particularly Anne Coogan and John Bosco Conama for recognising the importance of the accreditation process and for so generously giving of their time and professionalism to ensure its success.
The interpreters who receive accreditation today are an important resource to deaf people and to our society generally. Their skill and fluency ensure that the great diversity within the deaf community will be given its best voice and that the dignity and right to equality of each deaf person will be more than mere words.
This standard of interpretation is no easy task but it is a true vocation. I warmly thank those who have made it their vocation to help people from the hearing world and the deaf community to communicate effectively, to help deaf people access their rights and entitlements to public and social services and to assist them to navigate their way to a more fulfilled and less stressful life. ISL is a beautiful language. It is the language of our deaf brothers and sisters but it is not theirs alone for it is an essential pathway from the hearing to the deaf and from the deaf to the hearing. Without it, we only get to know and comprehend each other imperfectly. With it and with good interpretation facilities we have a chance to understand each other well and through that understanding to remove the obstacles which make life so unnecessarily complex for our deaf citizens. My warmest congratulations to our newly accredited interpreters and I wish the Board of SLIS and the interpreters who work on behalf of SLIS the very best of success. I look forward to the services that you provide flourishing in the years ahead as we build a better, more inclusive Ireland where our deaf community has lives that are not half-lived, where opportunity can be seized rather than wasted and where the full colour and quality of life is accessible to all, regardless of disability. Keep up this great work, comhgharideas agus go raibh míle maith agaibh.
