PRESIDENT�S MESSAGE:THE IRISH people are being "sorely tested by the colossal failure of a global and local culture of short-term gain and quick profiteering,'' President Mary McAleese has said.
“While some were seduced by the quick euro over the past decade, the vast majority of people in this country were sharing what was in their pockets,’’ she said.
“These people did not get us into the mess we are in today, but they will get us out of it. Because that is the kind of people they are, dependable, courageous and determined,’’ she added. “They are also rightly proud of Ireland and the remarkable progress and massive human investment our people have made in building both peace and prosperity. They are not about to let either be rendered valueless by wilful violence or wilful greed,’’ she continued.
In a Rite and Reasoncolumn in this newspaper today, she says: "This is our time and this is our test and, like generations before us, we will find a way through.''
In his St Patrick’s Day message, the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady said, concerning violence in Northern Ireland: “If the awful and tragic events of last week teach us anything, it is that all of us must work unceasingly for peace here on our island. I would urge all citizens to redouble efforts to build a peaceful society.”
He asked that “all people support the politicians who are working so hard to move away from the dark days of our past, to build a better future on foundations of trust, justice and respect for all”.
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Most Rev Diarmuid Martin, in his St Patrick’s Day message, has said that gangland killings in Dublin “has to stop”.
He said: “I cannot speak about the new outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland without also expressing my concern yet again about further episodes of gangland violence in and around Dublin. Violence begets violence.
“We are witnessing the incongruous situation in which one revenge killing begets further revenge, and precisely those who think that violence is an answer end up being the most vulnerable to the next round. This absurd violence and disregard for human life has been going on for too long. It has to stop.”
He said: “We need to send an urgent and unambiguous message that as one community, North and South, without distinction of belief or of political allegiance, we are united against anyone who takes the path of violence.”
A Catholic bishop has appealed to the Irish diaspora “to continue to work together in the spirit of charity and compassion to ensure the welfare of all Irish emigrants”.
In a St Patrick’s Day message, the Bishop of Derry Most Rev Séamus Hegarty, chair of the Bishops’ Council for Emigrants, made the appeal as, due to “the current downturn in the economy, increasing numbers of Irish men and women are again leaving our shores in the hope of making a new life for themselves and their families. For many, this can be a difficult journey to make . . .”
He also said that “today we remember in a special way those Irish emigrants whose journey has been a difficult one. We are especially mindful of the elderly Irish in Britain and our undocumented in the United States”.
He felt that “on this day too, it is important to highlight an especially vulnerable group of emigrants – Irish people imprisoned overseas”. He noted that church agencies “provide support to over 420 Irish people imprisoned throughout the world. While the majority are imprisoned in Britain, others are located in Europe, the Americas, Australia and Africa”. Between November 2008 and January 2009, 34 new cases were reported to those agencies.
He commended the 2007 report on Irish prisoners abroad prepared by former minister of state Chris Flood, which provided “an excellent synopsis of the many difficulties faced by Irish prisoners and their families”. The bishop felt it “imperative that the remaining recommendations contained within the Flood report are urgently implemented”.
