PRESIDENT’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2020

Speech

Mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, as President of Ireland, may I send each and every one of you greetings and my warmest wishes for a peaceful and Happy Christmas.

What a year we have had, a year in which we have lost so many to this pandemic and during which the lives of so many of our people have been changed utterly as we made our shared efforts to protect each other.

In 2020, as we came together to meet the challenge of a global pandemic, we were called on to undertake a demanding adjustment to our way of life, one that has required considerable resilience, self-sacrifice and compassion from us all.

May I, as President, say how gratifying it has been to see the great expression of generosity that has been demonstrated throughout this difficult time.

We all have been so fortunate, to have delivered for our welfare, countless examples of
self-sacrifice on the part of essential workers, neighbours and family members, all doing their utmost to lessen the isolation and disruption that this year has brought.

When we reflect on our recent experiences this Christmas this spirit of solidarity can be our guiding light as we proceed onwards towards a new year that will offer us our challenges but which we can approach with hope as a result of what we have been doing together.

Working together on this project of controlling COVID-19, as it impinges on our lives, requires the best of us all. We need not only to speak the language of citizenship,
but to deliver it and to share it, as we encourage each other to have a vision of the light that will surely come if we work as one, renewing and redoubling our efforts to suppress the Coronavirus.

Invoking solidarity requires us, of course, to understand the vulnerability of others.
For all of us, 2020 has been a challenging year. For vulnerable groups, however, the impact of Covid-19 has been greatly magnified.

May I suggest that the compassion, care and empathy we extend to such groups will define how history will recall these times.

We have learnt in recent months that kindness is a precious commodity reflecting a collective concern for all with whom we share a mutual space. We have seen so many examples of good citizens placing the common good above their own wants, making sacrifices as they think beyond the self in the protection of others.

The Christmas story of a journey to Bethlehem is a founding story of a long and difficult journey, and is invoked as the source of a new dawn and the birth of a new and better world for all.

Christmas has always signified a moment of hope, and the revival of hope, a moment to find encouragement, even in the most difficult and trying of circumstances.

Today, we share in the grief of those who have lost loved-ones this year. We share, too, the pain of those whose lives and livelihoods have been changed, and who face uncertainty for the future, and we stand with our friends, family members and neighbours who have experienced isolation and being separated from those who previously sustained them.

We also remember, this year, in a special way, the many who have been unable to travel to be with loved-ones but who, I know, will be connected in spirit during the festive season.

Let us, however, continue to journey forward in a spirit of hope and solidarity. As we stand at a defining moment in our nation’s history, let us choose together how we wish to write this next chapter; how we wish to shape a new Ireland waiting to be born.

It is an Ireland which can be the better for our reflection on what it is that we wish to value, an Ireland that can better address our shared existence, our shared vulnerability and our interdependence, all of our relationships.

Today, as we move beyond the Winter Solstice towards the longer, warmer days to come, let us renew our sense of wonderful possibilities yet to be realised and resolve to journey forward in a spirit of solidarity, of sensitivity to memories to be recalled, and of forgiveness sought and offered so that together we can navigate our way safely and with joy towards that shared and brighter future.

I wish you once again a Happy Christmas, and a New Year of hope and promise.

Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir.
Beir Beannacht.

TEACHTAIREACHT NOLLAG 2020 AN UACHTARÁIN

Guím gach beannacht agus gach rath oraibh uilig agus muid ag tnúth le chéile Nollaig shona shíochánta.

A leithéid de bhliain a bhí againn!

Bliain inar chailleamar an oiread sin daoine de bharr na paindéime. Blian inar athraíodh saol an oiread sin daoine ó bhonn, agus iarrachtaí coiteann á ndéanamh againn chun aire a thabhairt dá chéile.

Le linn na bliana seo, nuair a thugamar aghaidh le chéile ar dhúshlán na paindéime domhanda, iarradh orainn tabhairt faoi athraithe deacra inár slíte mhaireachtál. Athraithe a d’éiligh go leor teacht aniar, féiníobairt agus comhbhá uainn go léir.

Ba mhaith liom a rá, mar Uachtarán, gur údar sásaimh a bhí ann an fhlaithiúlacht a léiríodh le linn na tréimhse deacra sin.

Bhí an t-ádh orainn go léir gur taispeánadh eiseamláirí gan áireamh den fhéiníobairt i measc na n-oibrithe riachtanacha, na gcomharsan agus na dteaghlach, agus a ndícheall á dhéanamh acu, chun teacht i gcabhair orainn uilig agus ar a chéile.

Nuair a smaoinímid le linn na Nollag ar a bhfuil tar éis tarlú le gairid is féidir spiorad na dlúthpháirtíochta a bheith mar réalta solais againn agus muid ag dul i dtreo na hAthbhliana, a mbeidh dúshláin romhainn inti, ach a mbeimid ábalta tabhairt fúthu le misneach mar gheall, agus mar thoradh, ar a bhfuil déanta againn i gcómhar lena chéile.
Agus muid ag obair linn ag iarraidh srian a chur ar COVID-19, agus é ag cur as dár saol, ní mór dúinn gach dícheall a dhéanamh. Ní mór dúinn, ní hamháin dearcadh na saoránachta a léiriú, ach é a chur i lár an aonaigh.

Ní mór sin chun fís choiteann a bheith againn, den solas a thiocfaidh má oibrímid as láimh a chéile, agus ár n-iarrachtaí á neartú againn chun an coróinvíreas a chur faoi chos.

Más mian linn an dlúthpháirtíocht a spreagadh, ní mór dúinn, ar ndóigh, leochaileacht daoine eile a thuiscint.

Ba bhliain dhúshlánach 2020 dúinn go léir. Maidir le grúpaí leochaileacha, áfach, méadaíodh tionchar Covid-19 as cuímse.

Creidim gurb iad an chomhbhá agus an cúram a léirímid do ghrúpaí dá leithéidí a gcuimhneofar orthu, sa stair amach anseo.

D'fhoghlaimíomar le míosa beaga anuas an luach a bhaineann leis an cineáltas a léiríonn cúram na ndaoine sin go léir atá mar baill d’ár bpobal.

Tá cuid mhaith samplaí feicthe againn de shaoránaigh stuama a chuir an leas coiteann chun cinn ar a míanta féin, a rinneadh íobairtí agus iad ag díriú ar leas daoine eile seachas a bheith ag smaoineamh go chúing orthu féin.

Tosaíonn Scéal na Nollaig le h-aistear fada agus deacair chuig Beithil, agus luaitear é mar fhoinse ré nua agus tús saol níos fearr don chine daonna.

Riamh anall, léirigh an Nollaig tráth dóchais agus athnuachan dóchais, tráth chun misneach a fháil, fiú faoi na cúinsí ba dheacra agus ba thrioblóidí.
Inniu, mothaímid buairt iad siúd ar cailleadh daoine muinteartha leo i mbliana.

Roinnimid, freisin a gcrá, leo siúd ar athraíodh a saol agus a slí mhaireachtála
ó bhonn, agus nach bhfuil a fhios acu cad atá i ndán dóibh, agus seasaimid gualainn ar ghualainn lenár gcáirde, lenár muintir agus lenár gcómharsana atá scoite amach agus scartha uathu siúd a bhíodh á gcothú.

Cuimhnímid i mbliana, freisin, go háirithe orthu siúd go léir nach raibh in ann taisteal chun a bheith lena muintir ach a bheidh, mar sin féin, i spiorad leo le linn fhéile na Nollag.

Leanaimis linn ar aghaidh ar an aistear áfach, i spiorad an dóchais agus na comharaíochta. Agus muid ag pointe cinniúnach i stair ár náisiúin, is fúinn féin
an bóthar a shiúlfaimid a roghnú.

Tá Éire nua ag fanacht lena breith an Nollaig seo, Éire ar féidir léi a bheith níos fearr má tá na fiúntaisí cearta againn; Éire ar féidir léi aghaidh níos fearr a thabhairt ar ár saol coiteann, ar ár leochaileacht choiteann agus ar ár n-idirspleáchas.

Inniu, agus muid ag druidim thar ghrianstad an gheimhridh agus fadú na leathanta romhainn, cuimhnimid ar na féidearthachtaí atá le fíorú fós agus réitímis dul ar aghaidh i spiorad na dlúthpháirtíochta, ionas go mbeimid ábalta ár mbealach a dhéanamh go cúramach, le háthas i dtreo ár dtodhchaí le chéile.

Guím Nollaig shona daoibh uilig agus Athbhliain lán dóchais agus síocháin.

Beir beannacht.

The video message is available on YouTube (in English and in Irish).

Tá an teachtaireacht físeáin ar fáil ar YouTube i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge

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