Speech by Sabina Higgins at the unveiling of the Tapestry as part of Decade of Commemorations at the Barbara Ward Clonliffe and Croke Park Community Centre
19th December 2018
It’s a pleasure to be here at the Barbara Ward Clonliffe and Croke Park Community Centre on the occasion of the unveiling of this Tapestry as part of the decade of commemorations. This wonderful creation depicts 7 of the leading women of the 1916 Rising. This is a beautiful piece of art and I congratulate everyone involved in its design and execution and in bringing it to completion. We again appreciate the contribution of Robert Ballagh to the work. After the success of the creation of the first tapestry on 1916 insurrection by this talented womens’ group, it is so fitting that they should follow with this tapestry honouring in particular the heroic women who played such a vital part in the coming to pass of the insurrection and in all the historic events that followed as a consequence.
History is so important doing a project like this you become involved in those times. That decade between 1913-1923 and in the lives of these people and what they did. You come to know and appreciate that all this is your story as well.
It is what lead us to what we are today- we ourselves and our country. We see how though many things have changed for the better, that if the greatest aspirations of these people had been striven for by the majority of people, we would be in much better place today both in the country and in the world. We went forward in that decade but we fell sadly back into conservatism and repression in the 30’s and the 50’s and it took the cultural leap forward of the 60’s and the long and hard battles fought on behalf of the women’s movement and the emancipation of women during the 70’s, 80’s to bring us to where we are today.
Unfortunately we are also in a very unstable and dangerous time in the world today. It is a particularly hard time for women as they endure much suffering and face many challenges. Maybe the greatest cause of concern is gender violence and domestic violence.
The economic modules that have been followed blindly have led to unregulated and unaccountable financial speculation. There are great gaps between rich and poor nations and great gaps between rich and poor inside countries. Climate breakdown, is causing desertification and conflicts which in turn leads to economic migrants and refugees fleeing those disasters.
The greatest hope is that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and campaign for Climate Justice, signed up to by 200 countries will succeed in bringing about a world where all can flourish and be safe and secure.
This depends on everyone- individuals, Local and National Governments and International Institutions changing behaviour and working together in solidarity to achieve this ambition.