Dublin, 21 December 2016. Dear friends here in Ireland and around the world,
As President of Ireland, Uachtarán na hÉireann, it is my pleasure to send you my warmest wishes for a peaceful, as well as a happy Christmas and New Year.
The Christmas period is a special period for all of us. It is a time of celebrations, of closeness and of hope. A time, too, to focus on the message contained in the story of a child in the manger, born to parents without a home, and reliant on the hospitality of strangers.
This story should resonate to us in our present world and circumstances, holding as it does a message for all of us, regardless of our circumstances or faith: A message of challenge to moral action, one of optimism in our capacities for a new beginning, and it is a message of peace.
As this year ends and a new one begins, the dream of ‘Peace on Earth’ can seem very distant. In the past year, we have witnessed horrific violence and suffering in countries such as Syria, Yemen and Iraq but also closer to home in Istanbul, Nice, Brussels and in so many other towns and cities.
Internationally, ever more children, women and men are on the move, living precarious existences in the refugee camps of the world, as conflict and disasters continue to force people to flee, flee from their homes.
The humanitarian situation of millions of vulnerable people is still awaiting an adequate global response.
The circumstances of the birth of Christ, with its forced migration, homelessness and powerlessness, are being re-enacted for us the world over, in the conditions of migrants – including infants and children – as they wait, not knowing what the future will hold for them.
Many people in Ireland are also worried about the future. It is a time of uncertainty at home and across the European Union, where life has been a struggle at an economic and social level.
And now new forces seek to exploit old divisions or create new ones, utilising even the hate of racism and ethnic exclusion.
In the past year, a special year of commemoration and reflection, we have been reminded of how precious our freedom is. We commemorated how one hundred years ago a small group of women and men set in train a series of events that ultimately led to an independent State. In doing so, we celebrated elements of our past that can provide us with a lasting source of pride and confidence, as well as a compass for the future. We also reflected on aspects of our history that had been forgotten, evaded or even downplayed.
As we now face into a new year we are challenged to embrace the new. We need courage to depart from what has not served us well, and we need the inspiration to make new connections with each other and with the vulnerable planet on which we live.
Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu reminded us that ‘A person is a person through other people’. This fundamental awareness of the importance of our love for – and dependence on – each other should inform all our plans and actions, and should give us the wisdom to generate new models and new policies that will ensure inclusive action at home and abroad.
Our solidarity is the heart beat of our society. Our bonds are stronger than we think, and stronger than that which at times divides us. The complex world in which we live challenges us, but it does not pose greater challenges than those faced and overcome by previous generations, or by brave movements of the oppressed in world history.
My wish, at this Christmas of 2016, is that, together, we will continue to seek to build the true republic of which our forebears dreamt, embracing the values, possibilities and responsibilities contained in that dream.
I wish each and every one of you a blessed and happy Christmas and a New Year of restored hope and faith in Ireland’s future.
Beir Beannacht.
Teachtaireacht Nollag an Uachtaráin 2016
A Cháirde anseo in Éirinn, agus thar timpeall an domhain, Mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, is cúis áthais dom mo bheannachtaí a chur chugaibh agus guím Nollaig shona, shíochánta agus Bliain Nua mhaith dhíbh.
Is am speisialta dúinn go léir í an Nollaig. Is am ceiliúrtha atá inti, ina mbímid gar dá chéile agus dóchasach faoina bhfuil amach romhainn. Am, freisin, le díriú ar an teachtaireacht atá sa scéal faoin leanbh sa mhainséar, a saolaíodh do thuismitheoirí gan dídean, agus iad ag brath ar fhéile strainséirí.
Is scéal é atá ábhartha dúinn sa lá atá inniu ann, agus tá teachtaireacht ann dúinn go léir, pé cúinsí a bhaineann linn agus pé creideamh atá againn. Is teachtaireacht í, ina dtugtar ár ndúshlán tabhairt faoin ngníomh morálta, agus ina dtugtar misneach dúinn maidir lenár n-acmhainn. Tá tús nua agus síocháin i gceist, leis an teachtaireacht chéanna.
Agus deireadh ag teacht leis an mbliain seo agus tús le bliain nua, ag smaoineamh ar an aisling sin ‘Siochán ar Domhan’ nár fada uainn í. Sa bhliain atá caite, chonaiceamar foréigean agus fulaingt uafásach i dtíortha mar an tSiria, Éimin agus an Iaráic ach, chomh maith leis sin, níos gaire don bhaile in Iostanbúl, Nice, an Bhruiséil agus san iliomad cathracha agus bailte eile nach iad.
I dtíortha éagsúla ar fud an domhain, tá níos mó páistí agus mná fós ar a gcos, iad ag maireachtáil ar éigean sna campaí do theifigh, daoine ag teitheadh óna mbailte de bharr coimhlintí agus tubaistí.
Táthar fós ag fanacht le freagairt dhomhanda chomhbheartaithe ar staid dhaonnúil na milliúin duine leochaileach gan chosaint.
Tá cúinsí breithe Chríost, a raibh eisimirce éigeantach, easpa dídine, agus easpa cumhachta, ag baint leo, á dtaispeáint arís ar fud an domhain maidir leis an droch-chaoi ina bhfuil imircigh – linbh agus páistí ina measc – agus iad ag fanacht, agus gan a fhios acu, céard atá i ndán dóibh.
Tá go leor daoine in Éirinn chomh maith, a bhfuil imní orthu, chomh maith, faoina bhfuil amach rompu. Ní fios céard atá i ndán dúinn sa bhaile agus trasna an Aontais Eorpaigh, mar a bhfuil daoine ag streachailt leis an ngeilleagar agus an saol sóisialta.
Agus a bhfuil fórsaí nua ann ag iarraidh leas a bhaint as seandeighiltí, nó deighiltí nua a chruthú, agus úsáid á baint acu fiú as an gciníochas gránna agus an eisiamh eitneach.
Sa bhliain áirithe atá caite, bliain chomórtha agus mhachnaimh, cuireadh i gcuimhne dúinn cé chomh luachmhar agus atá ár saoirse againne.
Rinneamar comóradh ar an gcaoi ar chuir grúpa beag, ban agus fear, tús le sraith eachtraí céad bliain ó shin, arbh astu a tháinig Stát neamhspleách ar deireadh.
Agus sin á dhéanamh againn, rinneamar ceiliúradh ar ghnéithe dár stair ar féidir leo údar bróid agus muiníne a thabhairt dúinn, chomh maith le treoir don am atá amach romhainn.
Rinneamar machnamh, freisin, ar ghnéithe dár stair a bhí ligthe i ndearmad, a bhí seachanta againn nó fiú a raibh beag is fiú déanta againn díobh.
Agus sinn ag tabhairt ár n-aghaidh ar bhliain nua, is dúshlán dúinn glacadh chugainn féin an rud atá nua. Tá misneach uainn chun pé rud nár lenár leas é a fhágáil inár ndiaidh, agus tá inspioráid uainn le caidreamh nua a bhunú eadrainn agus leis an bpláinéad leochaileach a bhfuilimid ag maireachtáil air.
Mheabhraigh Nelson Mandela agus an tArd-Easpag Desmond Tutu dúinn gur duine, duine trí bhíthin, daoine eile. Ba cheart go gcuirfeadh an tuiscint bhunúsach seo, ar thábhacht ár ngrá dá chéile agus ár spleáchais ar a chéile, bonn eolais faoinár bpleananna agus ár ngníomhartha, agus go dtabharfadh sé an ghaois dúinn chun múnlaí agus beartais nua a chruthú a chinnteoidh go mbeidh pé gníomh a dhéanfaimid sa bhaile agus thar lear cuimsitheach agus uileghabhálch.
Is í an dlúthpháirtíocht cuisle ár sochaí. Tá an nasc eadrainn níos láidre ná a cheapaimid, agus níos láidre ná é sin a dhéanann deighilt eadrainn ó am go ham. Is dúshlán dúinn an domhan casta ina mairimid, ach ní dúshlán níos mó é ná na dúshláin a bhí roimh na glúine a chuaigh romhainn agus ar éirigh leo iad a shárú, ná gluaiseachtaí cróga na ndaoine sin a bhí faoi chois i stair an domhain.
Is í mo mhian, an Nollaig seo dhá mhíle is a sé déag, go leanfaimis ar aghaidh i gcomhar lena chéile, chun fíorphoblacht a bhí mar aisling ag ár sinsear a thógáil, a mbeadh luachanna, féidearthachtaí agus freagrachtaí na haislinge sin cuimsithe ann.
Guím Nollaig bheannaithe shona agus Bliain Nua, ina mbeidh dóchas agus muinín agaibh arís i dtodhchaí na hÉireann, ar gach uile dhuine beo agaibh.
Beir Beannacht.
For the video message in English please click here.
For the video message in Irish please click here.