Speech at a Tree Planting Ceremony
Murroe, Co. Limerick, 23rd April 2016
A Dhaoine Uaisle,
Is mór an pléisiúir a bheith in bhur dteannta inniu don searmanas cur crann seo. Is mian liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an tAthair Simon Sleeman dá chuireadh dom páirt a ghlacadh san ócáid seo, agus libhse ar fad as bhur fíorchaoin fáilte go Maigh Rua.
[It is a great pleasure to join you all here today for this tree planting ceremony. I am very grateful to Father Simon Sleeman for inviting me to take part in this event, and to all of you for welcoming me to Murroe.]
May I commence by saying how greatly uplifting it has been to witness how so many of our communities have taken the initiative to develop and deliver their own unique commemorations of the events of 1916.
The Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme has encouraged our communities to embrace this historic moment in a spirit of creativity and the reaction has been immense. All across the country, communities have responded with energy and enthusiasm, conceiving and developing projects which have a very personal and local perspective, adding a very important layer of context to this year’s commemorations. The planting, throughout 2016, of sixteen trees that will take root, grow and flourish within the community of Murroe and will provide a profound connection to the past in the years and decades to come, is one such inspiring and imaginative commemoration.
It is most apt that we plant this tree beside the Murroe Memorial Cross, erected in 1923 to honour those from the Limerick Brigades who fought and died during the Irish War of Independence, and which today stands as a beautiful and fitting monument to the sacrifice of a generation.
In this important year of commemoration we have, at events and celebrations across the country, been recalling the selflessness of the many men and women who aspired towards, and fought for, Irish independence. They may have differed in the ideals they emphasised, yet all of them, with their different ideas for the future of the nation, came together to pursue what they shared, a dream of independence.
Indeed, this national moment of commemoration prompts us to reflect on what it is to be an active, caring and responsible citizen; of the capacities, opportunities, but also the responsibilities, including those of solidarity, that come with the freedom of citizenship. At the very heart of republicanism lies the principle of participative citizenship, and the right of all citizens to be represented and to have their voice heard. It is a concept based on an understanding of the accountable State as a shared responsibility, rather than an abstract entity, of an economy that is seen to serve all of the people in their sufficiency's rather that the insatiable consumption of the few. It is important that we remember and acknowledge that 1916 was about more than military or political actions. The leaders, in the best of their aspirations and writings, were inspired by the idea of creating a very different Ireland and they believed in a social as well as a national revolution in which every facet of Irish life could be improved.
Of course there is, today, a global dimension to those duties; and we must, as global citizens play our role in meeting the challenges set to us by issues of an ethical and ecological kind, such as climate change, global hunger and environmental degradation, accepting our obligations in an increasingly interdependent world.
The Ireland we know today began its life as a courageous vision. One hundred years later we are called to consider, in a new way, the ideals which inspired those men and women in 1916, to test them, retrieve them, add to them, and make our own new vision for a coming generation; honouring the memory of the men and women who fought for a free Irish state, and continuing the important work which they envisioned and for which so many were prepared to give up their lives.
Mar fhocal scoir, is mian liom buíochas a ghabháil libh ar fad as an fíorchaoin fáilte a d'fhear sibh romham inniu. Is mian liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh le gach éinne a d'oibrigh ar an ócáid comórtha luachmhar seo, a thugann deis dúinn smaoineamh ar na himeachtaí a churthaigh ár stat, ár náisiún agus ár bpobail.
[I would like to conclude by thanking you all very sincerely for welcoming me here today. Finally may I congratulate and commend all those involved in providing this valuable and imaginative commemoration of the events of 1916; events which have shaped our history, our nation and, of course, our communities.]
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.