National Institute for Intellectual Disability (NIID) - The Margaret McLoughlin Art Exhibition
The Printing House, Trinity College
17.30, Monday, 17 December 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening,
It’s my great pleasure to welcome you here today. I cannot think of a better end to the Michelmas term nor better advent to Christmas, than this wonderful art exhibition, which celebrates the talents of our students, and which has been enabled by the generosity of the McLoughlin family and friends.
In 1998 the National Institute of Intellectual Disability opened in Trinity College, pioneering the rights of people with intellectual disability to a third level education. And not before time! We are now so used to students with physical disabilities in college, that we contemplate in dismay the ‘dark ages’ when there wasn’t universal access in universities nor suitable technology and special assistants to help.
The situation for those with physical disability began to improve, slowly, from the 1960s onwards. But it was not until very recently that a few forward-thinking people made the leap and realised that a whole other section of the population was being denied the opportunity to develop their gifts.
It’s only when someone questions the status quo that we realise how rigid and exclusionary it can be. The twentieth century was the great century of improved access to third level education, and the ending of discrimination against particular groups.
In the course of the century it became the norm, rather than exceptional, for women, different ethnic groups, those from economically deprived backgrounds, mature students, and those with physical disabilities to attend university.
With each ‘opening out’, we realised that not only had countless individuals been denied the full exercise of their potential, but society had been denied their talents and services.
And I’m proud that today Trinity is a pioneer of education, research and advocacy for people with intellectual disability. The NIID’s flagship ‘Certificate in Contemporary Living’ has inspired other third level institutions round the country to inaugurate similar programmes.
And because Trinity’s approach is always in favour of collaboration and interdisciplinarity, NIID’s research is illuminating many Trinity research areas. For instance, TILDA, the Trinity-led longitudinal study on Ageing, is looking into ageing in people with intellectual disability under IDS-TILDA.
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The Certificate in Contemporary Living focuses on academic learning, personal growth, and skills development for students with intellectual disability. Creative Arts Appreciation and Performance is a key module within this certificate, and the Margaret McLoughlin Art Project is part of that module.
Joan and Tony McLoughlin, together with their children, David, Louise and Kieran, established the Margaret McLoughlin fund to commemorate the spirit and vitality of their daughter Margaret, who had Down’s Syndrome and passed away in 2003 at the age of 25. In their generosity they donated the funds to NIID, specifically for the Expressive Arts Programme, in order to provide, as Joan McLoughlin has said,
“the opportunity for people like Margaret to enhance their lives and be given a means to develop the talents which they undoubtedly possess”.
Around us, in these bold, ambitious works we see the fruit of the McLoughlins’ generosity, and the proof of our students’ talents. Abstract and figurative, optimistic and inquiring, these works reach out to us, as only art can, giving insight into other states of mind.
I quote from a poem by Noelle Doran, this year’s winner of the Margaret McLoughlin Art Prize. The poem is called ‘Me’ and begins:
‘Half moon –
I think about me
being whole’
That’s only eight words. It takes the lightning speed of poetry to say so much in eight words.
This is the very first Margaret McLoughlin art exhibition. I am inspired by the quality of the work here. I thank the NIID staff, particularly the two visiting artists. Your remarkable work has helped our students unleash their creativity. I thank the McLoughlin family and friends for making this possible, and for your continued support of NIID.
And finally I congratulate the students. As pioneers in this educational programme, your example will inspire future generations, and will help to determine the direction this programme takes. Your commitment, hard work and creativity, on show today, has meant that not only have you raised the barrier of what we expect of you, but you have helped towards building a more inclusive, ethical and respectful society for the future.
Thank you.
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