By MITCH HURST
President of Ireland Mary McAleese and Mott Foundation President William S. White spoke at the inaugural Ray Murphy Lecture in Cork, Ireland on January 25.
The lecture, delivered by President McAleese, was the first of ten annual lectures that will take place in honor of Murphy, a leader in the field of international philanthropy and a senior adviser to the Mott Foundation at the time of his death in March 2007. The lecture series is funded with grants from Mott and Atlantic Philanthropies and is sponsored by Philanthropy Ireland, an association of Irish grantmaking organizations.
During his remarks to launch the lecture series, White talked about Murphy's passion for, and commitment to, the field of philanthropy. White highlighted Murphy's belief that philanthropy can empower and enable people to help them improve their lives, and emphasized Murphy's interest in the needs of vulnerable children and youth.
"We have an ambition to create a society that is based on a true social order, a place where the dignity and equality of every human being is a lived reality, not simply a big unreachable aspiration but actually something that we are, in a focused and galvanized way, making our way visibly towards." - Ireland President Mary McAleese
"At the core Ray believed in the inherent goodness of people," White said. "He believed that regardless of which city or nation one calls home, there exists a universal human spirit of caring and giving."
White encouraged those in attendance that one way they could honor Murphy's legacy was to take the "long view" of philanthropy by developing strong relationships with grantees; that grantmaking is about the long-term bonds between foundations and grantees and those they serve.
"He lived his values," White said. "His vision for what was possible made a lasting impact. Through our memories and this lecture series, Ray's voice will continue to be heard."
President McAleese's lecture focused on the history and culture of philanthropy in Ireland. She highlighted the potential power for good of the new wealth created by Ireland's remarkable economic growth over the past two decades -- the "problem of wealth" that she said is a "good problem to have."
She also touched on Murphy's legacy and his values.
"Ray believed that the welfare of one is infinitely connected with the welfare of all, so that when one human being is weak or excluded or disadvantaged then we're all dragged down by that," McAleese said, "and we are all challenged to pull everybody up."
President McAleese cited Murphy's early career working with children with learning disabilities and other youth to emphasize the importance of the dignity of each individual in society.
"We have an ambition to create a society that is based on a true social order, a place where the dignity and equality of each human being is a lived reality," she said, "not simply a big, unreachable aspiration but actually something that we are, in a focused and galvanized way, making our way visibly towards.
In closing, President McAleese echoed White's remarks by talking about the importance of committing to solving problems for the long haul.
"Philanthropy allows us to contemplate taking the big problems, reducing them in scale," she said. "Sending them off, seeing them off, picking them off ... we root them out, we deal with them, we stay with them for whatever time it takes, and in a coherent and focused and managed and planned and intelligent and wise way we see the problem through to completion."
Additional Links
Philanthropy Ireland has posted a variety of content related to the Murphy Lecture event on its
Web site. Resources include podcasts of both White's and President McAleese's full remarks, as well as the remarks of others who spoke at the event. Photographs from the event are also available. Click
here to access links to this additional content. Click
here to download a PDF publication of Mott Foundation President William S. White’s speech.