Sabina Higgins

Speech at the Unveiling of the ‘Footsteps’ Statues, in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania

In Hobart today, in Tasmania, Sculptor Rowan Gillespie thanked President Higgins for attending the unveiling of "Footsteps".

The four bronze sculptures commemorate the convict women and their children who arrived in Van Diemen’s Land and disembarked on the Hobart waterfront.

Around 14,000 Irish convicts, both men and women, were transported to Van Diemen's Land. The majority of these arrived after 1840 in the lead-up and during the Great Famine.

In his speech at the unveiling ceremony, President Higgins said they were "victims of a harsh judicial system that valued property above people’s lives."

Speech at the Unveiling of an Irish Famine Memorial, Subiaco, Perth, Australia

The President unveiled a Famine Memorial in Subiaco Park.

The sculpture, commissioned by the West Australia Irish Famine Commemoration committee, is designed by Charlie Smith and Joan Walsh-Smith, originally from Waterford, and commemorates the Great Irish Famine.

In addition to the sculpture, the Committee has sourced and donated Famine Travel Boxes, commemorating the 4,000 women who were sent from workhouses in Ireland to Australia.

Replicas of the Travel Boxes have been made by the Irish Prison Service and one was presented to President Higgins in January 2017.  (See http://www.president.ie/en/diary/details/president-presented-with-the-famine-times-travel-box-made-by-prisoners ) 

Sabina Higgins addresses mothers at a ‘Latching On’ morning

As part of National Breastfeeding Week Sabina Higgins hosted a reception and ‘Latching On’ morning in Áras an Uachtaráin.

Sabina welcomed more than 90 breastfeeding mothers and their babies along with supporters and campaigners for breastfeeding. Representatives of Cuidiú, La Leche League of Ireland, Friends of Breastfeeding, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and Baby Friendly Health Initiative, Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services Ireland and Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland were in attendance. 

Experts consider breastfeeding during the baby’s first year as crucial for its growth and development. Breast milk provides the nutritional properties that is needed by infants in the early stages of life.  It provides long term protection for the baby and paves the way for preventing childhood obesity.  Breastfeeding helps mothers recover quicker after given birth, they have a strong bond with their child and it reduces the risk of post-natal depression, breast and ovarian cancer.