During her official visit to Ireland, Roberta METSOLA, EP President, gives an address to the joint session of the Oireachtas.

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

EU - Ireland (T)

Dublin

Ireland

president's agenda

Ó FEARGHAÍL, Seán

Official visit by Roberta METSOLA, EP President, to Ireland (Dublin): Address by Roberta METSOLA, EP President, to a joint session of the Oireachtas

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Thank you, dear Chair, dear Taoiseach, honourable members of the Oireachtas. Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for having me here today. It is an honour to be in Dublin's Fair City representing the European Parliament. 50 years after Ireland joined what was then still the European Economic Community. We have come a long way together in five decades from joining the Single Market to joining the Euro. From helping to broker a peace. To secure a Northern Ireland protocol. From opportunities to trade, travel and study to working to ensure social justice. Respect for the rule of law, fundamental values and rights to live in dignity and safety. These European ideals are Irish values.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The European Union is not some faraway entity deciding for you. It is you. Ireland is Europe and Europe is Ireland. There is no decision that is taken without you. Dublin, Cork, Galway are the heart of Europe. When ten people lost their lives in Creeslough, we cried with you. When journalists like Veronica Guerin are killed for speaking up, we share your outrage and your determination for justice. When Ireland faced uncertainty in the immediate aftermath of Brexit, your position was our position. We went through all of that together and we will stay together.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I was told that 50 years ago Irish married women were not allowed to work in the public service. It would have seemed inconceivable then that a woman, least of all one born on an island in the middle of Europe's southern sea, would stand before you here today. That is part of what Europe can do, of how it can be transformational, of how it can be the leveller we need it to be. We have come a long way, but there is some way to go yet.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Europe is not only about funds for Irish farmers cohesion, digitalisation, recovery, infrastructure, roads or clean tech. It is about a fundamental understanding that when we do things together, it benefits us all. It is about a shared destiny, a shared future. We have different languages, histories, cultures, traditions, beliefs, abilities, but we share common values that are the foundation of everything that we do.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The beauty of unity in diversity. That great European Irish man John Hume once said, Difference is the essence of humanity. Difference should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace respect for diversity. Europe is not a homogeneous block, does not seek to make everyone the same. But it is about trying to ensure equal opportunities, about levelling up. About ending intergenerational cycles of struggle, about the quest for real peace.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And there are few places in Europe, where that message is as important and as well understood as in this great country. For 343 days now, Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of sovereign, independent Ukraine and the bravery of Ukrainian people remind us that progress and justice cannot be taken for granted. Democracy cannot be taken for granted. Europe cannot be taken for granted. In the face of destruction, devastation and death, the Irish people continue to show solidarity in helping over 70,000 displaced Ukrainians.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Irish people have a long history of showing empathy, of caring, of standing up, and for that example to the world. I thank you. Because the Europe we want for the next 50 years is a Europe that cares. A Europe of real peace. A Europe of justice. So we will keep standing with Ukraine in 2023 and for as long as it takes. No country can afford to go it alone. It is only together, that we can bring back economic growth and find answers to the questions that people ask of us as their representatives. And this is also what Ukrainians are asking of us today.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The European Union will continue to support Ukraine with financial aid, humanitarian aid and financial assistance, military support, and practical solidarity. I also wanted to thank the Irish across the country for their continued support for the European Parliament's Generators of Hope campaign. To source electrical generators that allow essential facilities in Ukraine to keep running in hospitals and schools and shelters and more because this country cares. You have proved that empathy is a sign of strength, time and again.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Former US President Barack Obama said it well when he said: Yours is a history frequently marked by the greatest of trials and the deepest of sorrow. But yours is also a history of proud and defiant endurance of a nation that kept alive the flame of knowledge and dark ages. That overcame occupation and outlived fallow fields. That triumphed over its troubles of a resilient people, who beat all the odds. He was right.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The story of Ireland is one of beating the odds of struggle, sacrifice, defiance, and emerging stronger lessons that Europe will need to draw on to face the year ahead. Because make no mistake, we are living in times of poly-crisis. War, energy scarcity, electricity prices spiking, cost of living increases and inflation wiping value off assets. Interest rates impacting government borrowing and housing markets. Scarcity of raw materials and a global food shortage. One short board blockage away.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And this framed in the context of our still ongoing recovery from the pandemic. The climate emergency and living through increased economic pressure from East and West, which is impacting our competitiveness. This has meant that families struggle to stretch their wages to the end of the month. It has meant increased social pressure. People in Europe having to choose between feeding their children and heating their homes. It has meant increased homelessness and hopelessness.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The challenges are clear across Europe, but I know that we can meet this moment head on, and the European Parliament's job is to help provide the European regulatory framework for these challenges to be met. To show that we can save jobs, we can create new economic niches, modernise and address climate change, at the same time. That is what the next generation EU funds are about. We need to help our businesses and our industries to compete. We can resist the temptation of over protectionism, but they need to have a level playing field, predictability and trust.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, That is how we can keep attracting investment and industry to Europe. We can learn from Ireland's macro economic recovery and from how you have managed to try to deal with the challenges of Brexit. Ireland will have a central role to play in addressing challenges ahead. All the more so since the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Something that the European Union regrets, but respects as a democratic choice of a majority of British people.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Let me say that the European Union has not wavered in its solidarity with Ireland and that it is with civility and respect for the rule of law that the European Union and the United Kingdom will pursue the relationship. And we will not leave your side. Honourable Members, after 50 years, Ireland continues to be an avid European Union team player. Supportive of a European Union of values that strives for more equality, justice and care. One day after Saint Bridget say, there is no doubt in this country that care matters and health care must be accessible to all.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, During the pandemic, the European Union stepped up and led on health care. We were steadfast in secure vaccines and ventilators for all people in all Member States. Now we need to go further and create a real health union. That is the best way that we can honour the unsung heroes of frontline workers and caregivers here in Ireland and around Europe. Social justice is high on the agenda of Irish members of the European Parliament. I'm happy to see here today.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And let me also say here in front of all of you, that Irish MEPs have led the debate in Europe on mental health, on the environment, gender equality, agriculture and farming, fighting, domestic violence and femicide and so much more Ireland has led. I know that the European Parliament has had a difficult few weeks, but I am confident that we will fix our systems and rebuild trust. I would have of course preferred the world's attention to be on the great work that members of the Parliament do every day.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, On the agreements that we have reached on climate, on migration and asylum, on energy, on funding and support for Ukraine, on what we have done to protect the rule of law and strengthen our value based approach. As Taoiseach said a few weeks ago, the European project is a superpower of values. We should not forget that it is important to remind people what Europe is all about and help them recapture the sense of hope and optimism in our European project.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Next year, 2024, the people of Ireland will be called upon to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament. My appeal to young Irish in particular is choose, vote. Your vote matters more than you can imagine. Your voice matters more than you know. Europe is not without imperfections or frustrations. I share many of them. I think we have to be honest about our failings as much as our successes.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, There is much we can improve together and we are determined to do what is necessary. Be part of that conversation. Do not give in to the comfort of easy cynicism peddled by those who say nothing has ever changed. They are wrong. The last 50 years proves that. And for Ireland, in Europe and for Europe, in Ireland, I know that the next 50 years will be a remarkable success story, because Ireland is Europe and Europe is Ireland. Thank you.