Mater Dei Graduation Mass
Press Release Friday November 23rd Immediate
Please find attached the Homily from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin at Mass this afternoon (Friday 23rd ) to celebrate Graduation Day at Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin.
In his Homily at Mass with graduates, their families and staff of the Institute, Archbishop Martin said we are in the midst of a qualitative leap into a new vision about education. He said this gives many reasons for hope, but also reasons for anxiety; “We have the opportunity to get it right this time and it may be the only opportunity we will have to get it right for another generation. If we get it wrong, then we will affect the lives of a generation of our young people.”
Speaking of the context of the current economic realties facing the country and the education sector he said we have to accept that austerity is the order of the day, but we can discuss the definition of austerity and the allocations of resources. “For that discussion to be fruitful we need in Irish society a “new ethics of austerity”. Such ethics would produce a focussed reflection in addressing factors which have long-term positive outcomes; it would identify the most vulnerable and see that they do not become the long term-excluded; it would foster a sense of common purpose rather than focusing only on sectoral interests; it would ensure a forward-looking policy and not be trapped into the conformity of the past. Ireland can be a leader in education. Ireland can truly invest creatively in its future generations. The generation of young graduates we see here today is an indication of that creativity and commitment
