Address by Mrs Mary McAleese, President of Ireland

The President of Ire-land was warmlywelcomed to the finalplenary session of themeeting and wasoffered deep apprecia-tion and gratitude foraddressing the Con-gress and launchingthe Global Network.The full texts of thewelcoming address byProf. Diarmuid Shan-ley and the responseon behalf of the Con-gress by Dr RichardValachovic can be

accessed on http://www.IFDEA.org (Global Congress Appendi-ces 5.1 and 5.2).

Address

It gives me great pleasure to be amongst such a distinguishedgathering of dental educators and dental students from all overthe world and to formally launch the ‘Global Network on Den-tal Education’. I would like to thank my old friend Prof. DerryShanley for his very kind invitation and to each of you I extendIreland’s traditional welcome Cead Mıle Failte – 100, 000 wel-comes. It is a welcome very specially extended to those of youvisiting Ireland from over 60 different countries. In this roomis gathered a colossal global resource of experience, wisdom,insight and expertise: exactly the right building blocks neededto establish this Global Network on Dental Education whichyou have made your mission.

I am one of those rare breeds of human beings who do nottense or hyperventilate at the thought of the dentist. It is justas well for I am married to one. In my defence, I can say that Ihave never deliberately sought to be related to dentists; in fact,I quite purposely married an accountant but he craftily

Fig. 1. The President of Ireland Mary McAleese and Dr Martin McAleese with some of the delegates who attended the Global Congress. Front row(L to

R):Dr Richard Valachovic, Washington, DC, USA; Dr Martin McAleese; President McAleese; Prof. Noel Claffey, Dublin, Ireland; Dr Jacinta McLoughlin,

Dublin, Ireland. Back row(L to R):Prof. Chooi Gait Toh, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Dr Patrick Ferrillo, San Francisco, USA; Prof. Prathip Phantumvanit,

Bangkok, Thailand; Prof. Ikuko Morio, Tokyo, Japan; Dr Margaret Wandera, Kampala, Uganda; Prof. Winfried Harzer, Dresden, Germany; Prof. Shoba

Tandon, Manipal, India; Dr Pauline Ford, Brisbane, Australia; Prof. Nazia Yazdanie, Lahore, Pakistan; Dr Kimon Divaris, Athens, Greece; Prof. Songlin

Wang, Beijing, China; Prof. Anders Nattestad Copenhagen, Denmark; Dr Barry Harrington, Dublin, Ireland; Prof. Henk Kersten, Amsterdam, The Nether-

lands; Prof. Maria Beatriz Ferro, Bogota, Colombia; Dr Kumara Ekanayake, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

European Journal of Dental Education ISSN 1396-5883

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184 Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Munksgaard and The American Dental Education Association, Eur J Dent Educ 2008 12 (Suppl. 1), 184–185

apostatized after we were long married and became a born-again dentist. My brother, whom I had strongly encouraged inhis career as a military pilot, rewarded all my efforts by alsobecoming a dentist and now despite my very best endeavoursmy electrical engineering daughter has abandoned her belovedwind-farms and, yes you have guessed it – she is about to starther studies in dentistry. So whilst I might not know muchabout teeth, I know a bit about dentists and dental studentsand it looks as if in my case it really is going to be a case oflife-long learning. Leaving aside the McAleese clan’s personaldental network and turning to the launch today of the GlobalNetwork on Dental Education, it is remarkable to see just howrapidly the concept has been vindicated in the 10 years sincethe EU-funded DentEd project based here in Dublin firstsought to promote convergence towards higher standards indental education across national boundaries. Within 10 years,the project had expanded to embrace 160 institutions in 49 dif-ferent countries and, almost inevitably by its own verydynamic, it called for the creation of a Global Network. And sowe now have this web-driven Network, which will be based inWashington, DC, and at the Dublin Dental School, a huge newsource of vitality and vision in dental education worldwide.

When I was first elected, almost 10 years ago, I made ‘Build-ing bridges’ the theme of my Presidency, so you can see theextent to which ‘dental speak’ has permeated my life. But, theconcept seems particularly apt to this Global Dental Network,for in almost every sphere of life there is an extraordinary, syn-ergetic power that can only be fully revealed and released bycollaboration. Knowledge shared is not knowledge divided butrather multiplied. Good practice, good ideas, will travel fluentlythrough this network challenging the outmoded, provoking thefresh and the new, ensuring that the very best available in theworld is available throughout the world.

Our world is a very unequal place and this network is itself avery powerful tool in the equalizing of experience and opportu-nity. I was heartened to learn in this context that, for example,delegates from the African nations represented here today planto advance structures for their continental dental education

association at this meeting. I know that you all wish them welland hope that their initiatives, facilitated by tools such as theGlobal Network, will enable similar developments in otherregions with limited resources.

Tomorrow’s dental students, practitioners and patients willexperience many benefits from the very significant change inculture that the Global Network on Dental Education will bringinto being. Its work will be facilitated by the International Fed-eration of Dental Educators and Associations (IFDEA), whichwas also, I am proud to say, founded in Dublin back in 1992.Today IFDEA becomes an interactive Global Network of dentaleducators and all dental associations worldwide.

This is a very ambitious, large-scale project, and it existsbecause of the singular dedication and striving of a great teamof go-getters. Many of them are in this room and they are thefounders of what will be an historic watershed in dental educa-tion world-wide. Public education will benefit, student educa-tion will benefit, research will benefit, professionalism willbenefit, expertise will thrive, information needed to inform bestpractice and promote best treatment outcomes will travelquickly and easily instead of staying locked inside national orlocal or even disciplinary boundaries.

Flat-earthers used to get a deservedly scathing reputation butin a much more practical and credible way your work is flat-tening all those barriers of distance, geography, culture, wealthand poverty, drawing us into an ever closer web of friendship,collegiality and communication, ensuring that the resources ofexperience, curiosity, brainpower, wisdom and insight are usedwell and put at the service not of privileged elites but of thewidest possible audience.

It is a singular pleasure to launch the Global Network and tounveil this website which, with the vision and dedication ofyou and your many colleagues worldwide, will very soonbecome a key tool inspiring and facilitating collaboration indental education and ultimately conducive to much healthierrelationships, as well as healthier gums and teeth, for manyaround the globe.

http://www.president.ie/index.php?section=5&speech=394&lang=eng

McAleese Address by the President of Ireland

ª 2008 Aras an Uachtarain

Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Munksgaard and The American Dental Education Association, Eur J Dent Educ 2008 12 (Suppl. 1), 184–185 185