Following this rich tradition at a meeting of Cork County Borough Council held in the Council Chamber,
City Hall, Cork on Monday 11th November, 1996,
An tArd Mhéara Alderman James A. Corr proposed and it was unanimously agreed ....
"That the Freedom of the City of Cork be conferred on John Bermingham.
In appreciation of his remarkable contribution to the personal growth of persons with mild
and profound mental handicaps in the City and County of Cork.
As a founding member of the Cork Poliomyelitis After Care Association in 1957
he has been
continuously involved in directing and expanding the role of that Association.
Today, known as
COPE Foundation it provides a comprehensive service to 1,500 persons
from the City and County of
Cork with mental handicap
and a lifetime commitment to the parents of such persons within its
care.
The comprehensive nature of the services of COPE Foundation
is to be seen in its special
schools such as Scoil Bernadette, Scoil Eanna and St. Paul's;
the special care
unit for severe and profoundly mentally handicapped persons at St.
Elizabeth's;
the sheltered workshops located in towns in the County of Cork
and the integrated housing schemes which at this time total 45 dwellings.
He has in the course of the past forty years devoted himself
to building up
an organisation which is predominantly voluntary in its structure
and is
committed to responding to the needs of special people in our society.
For these reasons and at a time when
The COPE Foundation
is celebrating
forty years of commitment to people,
The Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the County Borough of Cork
consider John Bermingham worthy to be enrolled
in the roll of its Honorary Freeman and so direct."
