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Remarks to Irish Development Ngos at a Garden Party

Áras an Uachtaráin, 4th July 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen

Dia dhíbh a chairde, Sabina and I would like to welcome you and thank you all for coming to the Áras today – céad míle fáilte roimh gach duine atá anseo.

Tá súil agam go bhfuil sibh uilig ag baint suilt as bhur lá i ngairdíní Áras an Uachtaráin, is gairdíní atá ar a mbarr feabhais an taca seo den bhliain de thoradh obair thiomanta na foirne garraíodóireachta. Tá freagairt iontach tugtha agaibh dár lucht siamsaíochta. Tá foireann an Árais, agus foireann Ofig na nOibreacha Poiblí freisin, ag déanamh a ndíchill d’fhonn a chinntiú go mbíonn lá mór maith agaibh.

[I hope that you are all enjoying your day in the gardens at Áras an Uachtaráin, which are looking at their very best at this time of year due to the dedicated work of the garden staff. You have given a great response to the performances by our wonderful entertainers. The Áras and OPW staff are also doing their best to ensure you have a great day.]

The garden party season is always a special time of the year in Áras an Uachtaráin, a time when Sabina and I get the opportunity to welcome many members of the community and to share with them the home of the President of Ireland and these grounds.

One of the great opportunities I have, as President of Ireland, is the chance to meet so many citizens who are inspired by a deep concern for others and who believe in active and fully engaged citizenship – b0th at the local and global levels. Today is yet another of those uplifting occasions.

Today I am delighted to have the opportunity to mark and celebrate the valuable work and important contributions that so many people in Irish society make to the global struggle to end global hunger, poverty, malnutrition, and the denial of human rights which prevails in so many parts of the world and the challenge too of assisting and advocating for sustainable development that takes account of indigenous cultures and can address issues of climate change, and those who with the greatest courage challenge issues of economic importance in trade, development debt and exclusion in the international fora.

All of you, I know wish for the vindication and promotion of human rights to be at the heart of your work. And that work includes listening to, and learning from, the world’s most marginalised people. When you speak about this work here in Ireland you illuminate, in a very vivid way for our citizens young and old, the causes of poverty and injustice and the importance of building a global community that is characterized by a sense of solidarity with, and concern for, the rights of our fellow global citizens.

This requires actions of mind and heart if we are to put alternatives in place.

I salute you for this work of activism in particular.

A shared vision for the realization of universal human rights is a common purpose that should unite us as global citizens. But it has yet to be realized. Human rights advocacy and vindication is not just about being free from political oppression, it is also about the right to survive and flourish, with one’s own culture taken into account, and a just sustainable global society. At a time when the world has the technical capacities to meet the basic needs of our entire global population, it is morally reprehensible that people continue to die from hunger, under-nutrition and related diseases.

There is nothing inevitable about these deaths. Such a huge proportion could be avoided. They are due to political, economic and social choices being made that do not address the needs of the people’s involved. It is the collective responsibility of Governments – and your chosen mission of advocacy – to end this scandal and to place food security, nutrition, agricultural sustainability and climate justice at the top of the agenda for analysis, discussion and action – both nationally and globally.

Responding to the issues of justice and development makes a demand at every level, including policy and management that is different and goes beyond administration in so many areas. It is a demand of heart as well as need. Over many years, Ireland has made a significant contribution, both on the ground and through international agencies and fora, to the promotion of human rights and international development. It is important work that must be further advanced during our term as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It is also a project that has been recognized in Ireland’s new policy for International Development “One World, One Future”.

Ireland’s official development aid programme, Irish Aid, and our NGO development agencies have earned a deserved international reputation for their transparency, their technical effectiveness and their human compassion. It is a reputation of which I, as President of Ireland, am extremely proud and for which I wish to thank you all.

Each one of you who is here today has a personal story to tell of how you came to be involved in this work of development, human rights and social justice.

At a human level, your work and exposure to hardship and risk is not easy at the coal-face or on your families who make considerable sacrifices to support you. And yet you persist in the commitment you have made to work for the marginalised, the weak and the vulnerable. I salute the courage, compassion and generosity which motivates your continuing personal commitment to this most valuable work and most deserving of causes.

At home and abroad, you have played, and continue to play, a vital role in raising awareness of the challenges facing citizens and governments, and of the need for increased understanding of our global interdependence. I encourage you to continue with the efforts that are necessary to engage with the public on human rights in an educational way, creating an understanding of human rights in the fullest sense – with Economic, Social and Cultural rights coming to the fore and joining Civil and Political rights as indivisible partners in the discourse. No single government, organization or institution can alone solve the enormous challenges facing the modern world.

Your work would not, of course, be possible without the ongoing support of the Irish people. It is a great tribute to the vision and generosity of the Irish people that this support has continued at significant levels notwithstanding the severe financial difficulties that they have experienced over recent years. In this challenging context, the need to communicate the urgency of your objectives and the transformational impact of your work is more important than ever.

One of the reasons the Irish people are so supportive of your work is in a significant way based on our memory of our historical experience and, in particular, the psychological impact and legacy of the Great Famine – An Gorta Mór. Remembering our history is important. We are currently engaging in a decade of important commemorations as we recall our own historic struggle for independence and this year we are reflecting on and celebrating the courage, endurance, and human rights significance of the Great Dublin Lockout of 1913.

Today, and right through the garden party season, we are fortunate to have been able to access for you a visible reminder of a seismic period in our national history. We are deeply grateful to the National Transport Museum for lending us the open front tram which is on display here this afternoon and which survived both the 1913 lockout and the Easter Rising.

Trams like this one carried the ordinary people of Dublin 100 years ago. It reminds us, in ways that words often cannot, that past events like the Great Lockout are not simply dry narratives in history books or quaint images in photograph albums; they were lived experiences that impacted on real people – our antecedents – and which shaped the future of the country and society, of which we are now the custodians.

I would like to thank you all for coming here today and commend you for the role that you and your organisations play, at home and abroad, in the struggle to create societies that are just, inclusive and truly participatory. You are inspiring citizens. I commend you for your service to humanity and wish you every success as you continue with that vital work.

I would like to conclude by thanking all those who have made today’s gathering possible. A big thank you to our MC, Karen Coleman, and also to Casey Leigh, Wallis Bird, Delorentos, Kíla and the Vltava String Quartet for the wonderful entertainment you have provided this afternoon. You all have enhanced our guests’ experience here today with your verve, talent and enthusiasm. Sabina and I are looking forward to seeing a little reprise of your performance in a few moments.

A big thank you, also, to the staff here at the Áras, to our friends in St John of God’s, the Civil Defence, the Gardaí, the tour guides and all who have worked so hard to make today an occasion of friendship and joy.

Sabina and I hope you have a great afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your time here and thank you for coming.