Remarks at the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland 10th Anniversary
Dublin, Wednesday, 12 October, 2011
Good evening ladies and gentlemen and thank you for the very kind welcome. I am grateful to Siobhán O’Donoghue and my old friend Fr. Bobby Gilmore for the invitation to be part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Migrant Rights Centre, Ireland. Today we gather in gratitude to those who took on this work, we acknowledge all they have accomplished and we look at what lies ahead.
Ireland of just a short decade ago was an altogether different Ireland. Jobs were plentiful, the economy was booming and, in direct contradiction of our long tradition of outward migration, our people stayed at home and tens of thousands of people from many parts of the world arrived in Ireland to make new and better lives for themselves and their families. Most found us welcoming and found work. Some were exploited by a small minority of unscrupulous employers. All faced the inevitable problems of adjustment, settling down and integration which are faced by emigrants the world over and what they needed most was a friend, a trusted friend to help and guide them through the unfamiliar landscape that greeted and confused them.
Ten years on we are trudging our way through a painful economic retrenchment which has taken a heavy toll on jobs, on income, on opportunities and future prospects for very many of our people among whom we count those who came as strangers but who have put down permanent roots here and who are now our neighbours, our relations, our co-equal citizens.
Just as our own Irish migrant workers made a proud contribution to their new homelands in places like America, Australia, Canada and Britain, those who have migrated to Ireland have brought to us many things that add lustre and depth to our lives. Their drive and work ethic, their independence and resilience, their skills, languages, culture, their ability to survive in unfamiliar worlds, their courage, these are all things we respect and admire. Their contribution has been invaluable in so many sectors in Ireland – as doctors, nurses and carers; in IT manufacturing and financial services and across the services industries where migrant workers, with their particular language and other skills, are often the direct point of contact for customers and consumers and an added, even a vital, attraction for inward investors.
Above all other nations on this planet, the Irish should easily empathise with the loneliness and isolation of the emigrant and understand how much happier their lives are when there is a warm welcome and easy inclusion in community life. Navigating our laws, systems, practices and procedures can be intimidating - which is why the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland is so important. It is the bridge that takes them from feeling vulnerable to feeling confident.
The impact of these hard times has been felt strongly among the migrant population and they have taken the pain along with everyone else, playing their part as we gradually emerge from our difficulties and straighten out the problems which brought us so much bad news. Signs of progress are at last beginning to emerge. They are modest but they are real and we can now hear international markets commentators expressing confidence in our future once again.
That future is a shared future - shared between native and newcomer who today are neighbours and citizens of Ireland. Our schools have children from dozens of different backgrounds and cultures, faiths and ethnicities, our children are learning to grow up with and enjoy diversity and difference. Their Ireland is multi-cultural and multi-coloured but it is underpinned by a Constitution and a value system which insists that we treat all others as we ourselves wish to be treated, Our country’s history of bitter sectarian division and conflict has taught us how essential it is, if we are to have peace on our streets and in our hearts, that we actively invest in community relations so that we do not simply live beside one another but live truly among one another.
The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland is a visible sign of how seriously we take that investment. Ireland is indebted to those who make this work their vocation and their passion. Justice and equality are the hallmarks of human decency and we want our country to be a humanly decent place to live, to work, to grow up and to raise a family. Your work for the improvement of working conditions for migrant workers makes it clear that as a society we will not accept anything less for our migrant workers than we would accept for ourselves. I wish you well for the ten years ahead and thank you for all you have done for the past ten years. They are surely worth celebrating for there are many people whose lives you helped change for the better and they are very grateful that when they needed help you were there.
Go raibh míle maith agat agus oíche mhaith.