The Special Olympics – a triumph of commitment

This coming week sees the Special Olympics 2003 swing into action. The competing teams and their entourages have been accommodated in host towns all over Ireland, effectively drawing the whole country into the spirit of the occasion. With almost 40,000 visitors involved, this is a major event by any standards.

That it is being held here at all is a tribute to the energy and the commitment shown by thousands of volunteers and community activists, who have invested a vast amount of time – and gone to a huge amount of trouble – to make it a genuinely special occasion for the athletes and competitors, who have travelled to these shores from all over the world.

It is a small thing in the context of such a genuinely herculean effort, but on behalf of the music industry, and of people who worship at the shrine of rock’n’roll generally, we would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of those who have travelled to Ireland, in the warmest possible terms. Equally, we offer our congratulations to the activists whose efforts made it all possible. There is, of course, a chance that things may not go strictly according to the script – but the ordinary people who have worked on the nuts and bolts of the planning have brought the event to a stage where it has every chance of being a great success. That in itself is something of which to be proud.

In some instances, volunteers have worked themselves to the bone doing their bit. They have done this with no expectation of a return, of any kind. Thankfully, for many it is still enough to know that you are doing the right thing. There is, it seems, a decency that defies the culture of self-interest and greed that has become the dominant currency in official Ireland over the past few years.

In many ways, an event like this brings out the best in people. It takes generosity above and beyond the call of duty to attend the meetings, to fund-raise, to put the physical infrastructure in place, and generally to make things ready – whether in towns around the country, for the vast influx of visitors that is involved, or in Dublin where the competitions themselves will be focussed. But it has been done, and done with good grace, enthusiasm and heart.

In general, then, Irish people have conducted themselves with the kind of generosity of spirit, which an event like the Special Olympics needs in order to thrive. Not so, those whose hands are on the levers of power.

To begin with, the controversy over the SARS issue and the clearly discriminatory stance of the Department of Health, in asking competitors not to travel from countries where SARS had been notified, offered an unwelcome reminder of the pettiness and arrogance of which bureaucracies here are capable.

That this decision went against the grain of what the majority of Irish people wanted was clear from the public reaction. As a result, the Department of Health was forced at least into a partial climb down – but the fact that the Minister for Health and the Government went along with the Department’s recommendations says a lot about attitudes at official level to what is at stake for Special Olympians.

Their cavalier attitude will not have surprised people who are directly involved with individuals or groups with disabilities. Louis Walsh may have struck an off note with certain of his pronouncements on the event last week – but in one regard at least, there was more than a germ of truth in what he had to say.

Ministers and members of the Government, it appears, want to have it every way. They revel in playing the good guys, clamouring to be seen to encourage the event, and joining in photo ops with the competitors who have been arriving in Ireland for the Games. But will the fact that the Special Olympics are being held here make any difference to the way in which those with special needs are treated by the system? Will the situation of those who care for individuals with disabilities of one kind or another be improved one iota? Will any of the investment in infrastructure, that is required to take better care of the community of people with disabilities, be made?

We all know the answer to these questions. No, no and no again. When the excitement and the publicity surrounding the event is over, and the competitors have all gone home, it will be back to the same old story of neglect and victimisation.

So inadequate has the investment in facilities for the disabled been, that in the region of 1,000 individuals with mental disabilities, but who are not psychiatrically ill, are currently kept in psychiatric units around Ireland. This glaring example of mismanagement is only the tip of the iceberg. Lip service is paid to the notion of community care – but in fact, to an appalling extent, people are simply left to fend for themselves in the most terribly difficult and demoralising situations. And this is as true for the parents of children with physical disabilities as it is for those whose difficulties relate to mental development.

It is difficult to make provisions that would cover every problem – of course it is. But what is clear is that, like the issue of health care generally, there is a complete lack of the kind of leadership and commitment that is required not just to formulate good policies in this heart-breaking area, but to ensure that those policies are properly funded and effectively put into practice – so that those with the greatest needs are given the priority which is truly their right.

The ceremonials and the pageantry and the bunting and the klaxons are all well and good. But it is the hard graft that really counts. Ordinary Irish people have shown in the build-up to the Special Olympics that they have what it takes to put it in. In the aftermath, the focus will shift onto the Government.

They have to prove that they can put it in too.