PRESIDENT OF IRELAND Michael D Higgins has condemned the “immoral and unjustified” invasion of Ukraine and called on everyone to unite in demanding an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops.

In a St Patrick’s Day message touching on climate change and vaccine inequality, President Higgins extended his “warmest greetings and sincere good wishes” to Irish people across the world and “all those who have been, remain and are working to be such good friends to Ireland”.

Opening his speech, Higgins noted that “once again the darkness of war rather than the extension of peace covers our world”, describing the unfolding conflict in Ukraine as “completely unacceptable, immoral and unjustified”.

“Our greatest hope for a future of hope and peace springs from the open hearts and doors of those saying ‘tar isteach’, come in,” said President Higgins.

“Let us, as one human family connected through our shared heritage, join with all those who stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they struggle to protect their right to live in freedom, security and peace.

“We, the peoples of the world must also now and with urgency unite our voices in demanding an immediate ceasefire, respect for humanitarian law, and the withdrawal of Russian troops.”

‘A space for the discourse of peace’

Looking back on the last two years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Higgins said the Irish people found themselves invoking some of the most basic values embodied in the story of St Patrick, such as solidarity, care, kindness, and compassion.

He said the enormous sacrifices people made throughout the pandemic, particularly, those made by frontline workers across society who “make community life possible and able to be shared”.

“It was inspiring and moving to see how our people sought to respond. These are values that the migrant Patrick could see as serving all humanity,” said Higgins.

It is our shared hope that we are beginning to emerge from the dark shadow of the pandemic, and we can do so in the knowledge that we, as a society, had workers that sought to give meaning to those most important values, by walking shoulder to shoulder with those suffering.

Higgins continued: “Across all of the sectors on which life and health depends they were prepared to risk their own health, and lives, in order to provide the vital services on which our citizens daily rely.

“Our diaspora and their families in Ireland were called to make difficult painful sacrifices. They at great emotional and personal cost, put the public good ahead of their great human and family desire to be reunited.”

The President also offered his sympathy to all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic, who were unable to be with them during their final moments, and those who could not avail of the traditional rites and ceremonies.

He described these rituals as being central to Irish culture and “so comforting to us all at a moment of bereavement and loss”.

Calling for universal and equitable access to vaccines, Higgins said the world had suffered a great failure.

He said that this was a critical component in the fight against Covid-19 and a recognition of “the shared humanity by which we are bound together and which is so essential to the crafting of an ethical world”.

In our inter-dependent world, we must ensure that in relation to the pandemic that we cross its finishing line together, no nation left behind.

As we begin our tentative move towards a new post-pandemic world, let us bring with us the important lessons we have learnt and an enduring memory, not only of the inspiring behaviours we have witnessed, but how these can be harnessed to create a better, more inclusive society, a caring version of economy delivered in a way that meets for example the climate crisis of our times, and a world that supports and adheres to that great principle that is lodged in the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Higgins concluded by asking all those celebrating today to show positivity in embracing the role of global citizens, “and take on and make into reality our responsibility to work with fellow citizens across all continents for a better, fairer and more inclusive world”.

“In Africa, from which comes images of desertification, of fellow humans and animals dying, and the parched earth itself, due to a climate change for which they are the least responsible, as they appear on our screens we are again listening sadly to the rhetoric of war,” said Higgins.

“The armaments industry absorbs our human, intellectual and technological resources while children die, and conflicts deepen. Militarism dominates the discourse where thoughts of peace might have flourished.

“On this St Patrick’s Day let us resolve to recover a space for the discourse of peace in our lives.”