Michael D. Higgins’ last Christmas message: Silence ‘conferring impunity on those flagrantly inflicting collective punishment’
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00:00Mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, coirím fáilte críol rúidh, agus cuim nálaic síochánta hana arraibh go léir.
00:08As President of Ireland, may I offer to each and every one of you my warmest greetings and my best wishes for a peaceful and happy Christmas.
00:20On this occasion, as I offer you all what will be the final Christmas message of my terms as Uachtarán na hÉireann,
00:28I recall the values that I stressed in my first Christmas message in 2011.
00:36The ethical values I invoked as project for all of us, building a just and inclusive society,
00:43that ensures the participation of all of our citizens, are surely as valid today as they were then,
00:52retaining a capacity to go to the hearts of Irish people, wherever scattered they may be, as they celebrate this season.
01:01At Christmas, many families will be welcoming the homecoming of many of our Irish community abroad,
01:08but there are those, of course, who, for different reasons, are unable to travel home, but whose connection with family and friends remains so strong.
01:18In the same spirit, I think of all those who have moved to live with us and make a new home in Ireland,
01:25our new citizens, and those who have sought asylum here, those seeking refuge,
01:31those searching for a life free from fear and persecution, or who, like so many of our Irish over-the-generationers, simply wish for a better life.
01:42May they this Christmas season all feel both welcome and kindness while separated from their own families around the world.
01:51Their new home does not require any forgetting of their home cultures or families.
01:57Let us have in our thoughts, too, those for whom Christmas is a difficult and emotional time of the year,
02:04those who are homeless, those who have experienced recent losses, those who are ill or who have loved ones who are having difficulties,
02:12and the many others in our society who may be in need of real and practical support.
02:18May I pay a special tribute to those members of our Irish Defence Forces who will be overseas this Christmas,
02:27and thus separated from their families, in particular those in Lebanon,
02:32whose contribution to peace-building and protecting some of the most vulnerable members of our shared global family is an example of Irishness and its values at its best.
02:45Their work and their family's sacrifices that make it possible are moral examples for the entire international community, including the most powerful.
02:56In 2024, we find ourselves in circumstances in which it is not sufficient, nor morally acceptable,
03:04that any passivity, evasion or silence is offered in the face of multiple interlocking crises across our world –
03:14food insecurity, malnutrition and global hunger, the consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss,
03:22rising global poverty and deepening inequality, and the domination of preparations for war over peace in the daily discourse.
03:34This Christmas, we are all too aware that far too many of our global family are having inflicted upon them,
03:41as part of the most horrific circumstances of war,
03:44circumstances that less and less respect civilian rights and that force endless displacement.
03:53At the end of this year, we think of all those who will be recalling all of these horrific events of recent times
04:01– the brutal attacks on civilians, including the taking of hostages for whom so many families continue to anxiously await word of their safety,
04:10and, as I speak, so many deaths of the most vulnerable remind us of what was released by way of a response,
04:20a response that has transcended all of the boundaries of humanitarian law.
04:28The silence of many of those with influence in the face of gross violations of the human rights of civilians
04:36is conferring an impunity on those who are flagrantly inflicting collective punishment on civilians,
04:44including starvation, which, as I speak, is affecting most of all women and children.
04:53For all of the people in Gaza, now a crucible of suffering for children and their families
04:59– 45,000 dead, 17,000 of them children, 11,000 people perhaps under the rubble –
05:07and for those in Ukraine, who have now endured over 1,000 days of war,
05:12or Sudan, where some 25 million people, more than half of the country's population, are facing acute hunger this year.
05:20Given all of these circumstances,
05:23the painful lessons of history and our hopes as a future must surely persuade us to strive with urgency
05:30for a world where diplomacy triumphs over endless preparation for war,
05:35where the pursuit of peace is a shared objective with far greater resins than is present at the moment in the discourse.
05:46When we might speak of peace in a diverse world where the safety and dignity of every human being is valued,
05:54this is now our best hope and preparation for responsible and sustainable lives together on what is our vulnerable shared planet.
06:04When I addressed the United Nations Summit on the Future of the United Nations in New York in September,
06:11I spoke of authenticity, of how our urgent interacting crises require us to recover lost authenticity between words and actions,
06:22to draw on what were our better promising moments of achieving trust,
06:27such as in 2015, when we agreed collectively the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals,
06:36a shared blueprint for peace and human development in recognising and responding to the consequences of climate change and the promise of sustainable living.
06:48We are challenged, however, by the fact that our delivery on these goals has been so much less than what was committed.
06:56Today, just 17% of the Sustainable Development Goals are currently on track.
07:02Half of the 17 goals are showing minimal or moderate progress, while over a third are either stalled or regressing.
07:13How is it, we must ask ourselves as international leaders, that the world produces enough food to feed all of its nearly 8 billion people?
07:22Yet dangerous levels of acute hunger affected a staggering 282 million people across the world last year.
07:31Ireland supports President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's initiative, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.
07:39We are also, and it is a matter of concern, living through a pervasive and deepening inequality that scars our world.
07:48Never have so many had so little, and so few accumulated so much, without responsibility.
07:55I reiterate my strong and urgent appeal for us all to support the United Nations so that we may all fulfil our commitments to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
08:08The failure to achieve peace, to eliminate acute global poverty, hunger and the consequences of climate change,
08:18and biodiversity loss have been accompanied by a return to an arms race, to a world that has rewarded investors in instruments of death rather than promoting sustainability.
08:32What a shameful statistic it is that in 2023 global military expenditure increased by 6.8% to $2,443 billion, increasing in all regions, the highest ever recorded.
08:51All of this while so many human values cry out for recognition.
08:57When wars and conflicts become accepted and presented as seemingly unending, such as at present, humanity is the loser.
09:07War is not the natural condition of humanity, and if it were, it would constitute little less than a species failure for human life.
09:17Now is the time for all of us, for all peoples to speak into our countries of the world who wish to see a world of peace,
09:26a sustainable and more equal world built on the Sustainable Development Goals,
09:31to come together, speak out and force the measures that will make these vital goals a global achievement.
09:41As we celebrate this Christmas season, wherever we may be and in whatever circumstances, may it be a time for kindness, understanding, a time of care and appreciation for one another.
09:55Let us all be grateful in a special way to all those who work in our hospitals and emergency services,
10:02to those attending to the needs of the homeless, the vulnerable and the marginalised,
10:07and to all those who so generously give up so much of their Christmas to serve the needs of others.
10:14May I also take this opportunity to thank so many of you who sent many messages of good wishes for the health of Sabina and I earlier this year.
10:24Your warmth and encouragement was deeply appreciated by us both.
10:29And as we come to the end of 2024, there are many recollections we could share,
10:34but one that remains as a shining memory is surely that of our Olympians and Paralympians who represented Ireland with such distinction in Paris last summer.
10:45In my first Christmas message in 2011, I said,
10:52We are a country of which there is much to be proud, whose possibilities are still to be fully imagined and realised, and whose people I am honoured to serve.
11:03As I enter this fourteenth and final year as President of Ireland, it remains the greatest honour and privilege to serve you, the people of Ireland.
11:12I look forward immensely to continuing to do so over the coming year.
11:18During my terms in office, both Sabina and I have experienced and valued the warmth and friendship of people both at home and abroad.
11:26We have witnessed the resilience, compassion, creativity, empathy and kindness of Irish people in so many different ways.
11:35It is something we so deeply appreciate, and we will always cherish.
11:40And so, as we pass the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, let us look to the future with hope,
11:47recalling our shared vulnerabilities this Christmas, resolving to forge together a renewed sense of solidarity,
11:56drawing inspiration from the enduring message of hope that lies at its heart.
12:02During this Christmas season, may we find an opportunity to deepen our understanding and accept the responsibility of what it means to live together in harmony
12:12and to take seriously our responsibilities to each other and to the world we share.
12:18Sabina joins me in wishing all the people of Ireland a joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
12:26We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.