Address by Mr. Noel Treacy TD Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce At the Unveiling of a life size bronze statue of Fr. Edward Joseph Flanagan Founder of Boystown, Omaha, Nebraska, USA At his birthplace: Ballymoe, Co Galway On Saturday 6th October 2001 at 1.00pm

On behalf of our Government, I am delighted to be with you here today to mark this very auspicious occasion. It is a great and memorable day for this community and I am pleased that I can share it with you all. I would like to extend a special ‘Céad Mile Failte' to our many overseas visitors. I am personally delighted that this event is proceeding during this time of international tension following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C., on September 11th, last.

I would like to give a special welcome to Mr. Steven Wolf, President of the Boystown National Alumni Association, whom I met earlier this year when he announced the generous donation of this beautiful statue to this community. I would also like to acknowledge the presence here today of the Papal Nuncio, Dr. Giuseppe Lazzarotto and H.E. Richard Egan, Ambassador of America, along with our public representatives.

We are all aware of the strong historical, political and cultural links between the United States of America and our country. It is estimated that over 40 million Americans claim some Irish ancestry. Their descendents are naturally anxious to maintain both personal and family links with us here in Ireland. Today's event is tangible proof of that special relationship, for which we are all both grateful and proud.

Fr. Flanagan's life
We are here to honour the memory of the late, great Fr. Flanagan of Ballymoe and Boystown. He was born in 1886 in nearby Leabeg, just across the river in County Roscommon. After he finished his studies he was appointed as an assistant pastor at St Patrick's Church, Omaha, Nebraska. After working for a number of years with homeless men, he realized that it would it would be a better use of his time if he tackled the problem, when the boys were still young enough to be influenced and educated. We all know Fr Flanagan's famous statement: ‘There is no such thing as a bad boy'. It was this belief that underpinned the Boystown ethos. He established a home for six homeless boys back in 1917, which was replaced by a residential farm in 1921. I understand that about 35,000 children are now being helped by the Boystown organisation, throughout the United States of America. Children from all religions, races, nationality and income levels are accepted. Both boys and girls attend regular classes and are taught a variety of vocational skills.

The combination of discipline, instruction and affectionate supervision by staff members has proven very effective in rehabilitating homeless children.

Boystown has developed over the years. It was renamed in 1979 Girls and Boystown. The original philosophy of education and vocational training is still at the core of the work of movement. It has changed the way that we all think about how we should deal with troubled children. Based on the experience gained over the years, staff members have developed both the ‘Common Sense Parenting' programme and the ‘Boystown Educational Model'. I understand that these have been independently evaluated and have been found to have resulted in significant improvement in the lives of both parents and children.

The image that most of us have of Boystown is the statue of the two brothers helping each other. The associated caption, namely: ‘He ain't heavy, Father ... he's m' brother', was an inspiration to Fr. Flanagan then and to us all today. Fr. Flanagan passed away in 1948 and shortly before his death he was asked if he was worried that his work would continue. He replied,"God will send. The work will continue you see, whether I am there or not, because it is God's work, not mine". He was correct and the 4th Executive Director of Girls and Boystown, Fr. Val J. Peter is with us here today, to share this historic moment with us. His presence here give us all immense pride as he is the direct link between Boystown and Ballymoe.

Government policy on Youth homelessness
Extensive changes have taken place in Irish society since Fr. Flanagan's death over half a century ago.

Although our attitude to and understanding of children and children's rights and the role of children in society have changed significantly, I know that the spirit of care, commitment and respect, which characterized Fr. Flanagan's work with children, lives on. The Government's National Children's Strategy ‘Our Children - Their Lives' which was launched last November sets out a vision for children and provides for new structures to allow for the lives of and services to all children to be improved over the Strategy's ten year plan.

The National Children's Strategy identifies the importance of addressing not just the quality of life and services for all children but also identifies the importance of addressing the needs of children who are marginalized or have special needs. Homeless children are perhaps one of the most marginalized groups. The National Children's Strategy identifies the development of a national strategy as a priority in addressing youth homelessness. One of the objectives of the National Children's Strategy is that: "Children will have access to accommodation appropriate to their needs".

The Irish Government is fully committed to tackling youth homelessness. It is doing this by targeting resources at youth homeless services in the context of the development of broader child welfare services. The main difficulty in regard to youth homelessness is in the Dublin area and significant resources to improve services have been made available to address this problem both there and elsewhere.

In partnership with the voluntary sector and other statutory providers the three area health boards in the eastern region are putting a comprehensive range of services in place to address youth homelessness and additional funding has been provided for this purpose. These services will assist young people who are experiencing homelessness and will also help to prevent at risk young people becoming homeless in the first place.

These include expanded outreach services, new emergency accommodation and downstream beds, which have been put in place.

Indeed, since 1997 over £90 million additional revenue funding has been invested through the health boards in the development of the child welfare services - to improve foster care, residential care and family support etc. Approximately £10 million has been targeted at youth homelessness.

A national strategy on youth homelessness has been completed and will be launched shortly.

I can tell you that the importance of a preventive approach underpins the Youth Homelessness Strategy. The goal of the Strategy is: "- to reduce and if possible eliminate youth homelessness through preventative strategies; - where a child becomes homeless to ensure that he/she benefits from a comprehensive range of services aimed at re-integrating him/her into his/her community as quickly as possible."

The 'whole child' perspective, which informs the National Children's Strategy, also informs this national Youth Homelessness Strategy. The Youth Homelessness Strategy complements our Government's strategy on adult homelessness, Homelessness - An Integrated Strategy (May 2000) and the Preventative Strategy - Homelessness, which is being co-ordinated by the Department of the Environment and Local Government. The Youth Homelessness Strategy will provide a national framework to tackle the youth homeless problem.

Tourism
The unveiling of this statue here today, marks a watershed in the history of Ballymoe. It puts us firmly on the map and in the years ahead I believe that it will encourage tourism in this area. We should use this opportunity to market Ballymoe more aggressively and I look forward to hearing of the progress in relation to the ‘twinning' of Boystown with Ballymoe. I am sure there are many people who have benefited from Fr. Flanagan's vision who would be interested in visiting his birthplace and the Museum, which will be opened tomorrow. There are many of other attractions here locally in the surrounding area, which would be of interest to any visitor. Not only is it possible to engage in fishing in the Island and Suck Rivers but the signposted walking trail along the River Suck is a major amenity, which is very attractive also.

Conclusion
On all our behalf, I would like to tank the Boystown National Alumni Association for donating this statue, designed by the world famous sculptor, Mr Fred Hoppe, to us. We appreciate your generosity and I hope that you have an enjoyable stay in Ireland. This event would not be taking place were it not for the hard word work of the Ballymoe Boystown Committee, which is chaired by Mr. John Griffin. Fr. Alan Conway, Mr. Finbarr McNamara, Mrs. Assumpta Ward and all of the other committee members ably assist him. We owe them all a debt of gratitude for their unselfish work on this project over the last year. Enjoy the weekend. You all deserve it, as you make your personal and collective contributions to the memory of a wonderful man - Fr. Edward J. Flanagan of Ballymoe and Boystown.