President Higgins says we have ‘a moral obligation’ to those who seek asylum

President Michael D Higgins has laid a wreath at the former site of the Milford Workhouse to remember victims of the Irish famine, or An Gorta Mór. 

Also present on behalf of the Government was Jack Chambers, Minister of State at the Department of Transport and Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

Wreaths were also laid by His Excellency, The Most Reverend Luis Mariano Montemayor, Apostolic Nuncio, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps; and Cllr Liam Blaney Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council. 

Music was provided by local musicians from Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Maoil Ruaidh, while Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, fiddler and singer with Altan, who performed the traditional lullaby ‘Dún do Shúil’ accompanied by guitarist Steve Cooney. 

The army band also participated in the event. 

Ahead of the President’s arrival, there was a Guard of Honour by members of the 28th Infantry Battalion, based in Finner.

President Higgins told those gathered: “It is my honour and privilege, as President of Ireland, to join with fellow Irish people, wherever they may be, and in whatever circumstances, as we mark the cataclysmic events from our past, and in particular as we recall the lives, deaths and suffering of all of those individuals who perished during that tragic event imposed on Irish people that we refer to as An Gorta Mór, the Great Hunger, the Irish Famine.”

He said National Famine Commemoration Day was an opportunity for people to reflect on and recall the suffering and loss of that period in our history. It was a day to remember those who fled to create new lives abroad, and reflect on the best lessons we might take from such a recall and how it might influence our contemporary lives and the lives of others. 

“Failure to act to prevent famines worldwide does not merely make an echo,” said President Higgins.

“It repeats and merely replicates the doctrines of inaction, moralism and laissez-faire policies that precipitated the Irish Famine, contributing to mass displacement such as that which we see now in Africa. 

“Our migration too has parallels that are contemporary. In the five years between 2018 and 2022, according to a recent report by Caminando Fronteras, 11,286 people died trying to enter Spanish territory from Africa, almost all of them at sea. This excludes the many who die before they make it to the coast. The UN migration agency believes that two people die in the Sahara for every one who drowns at sea. 

“The parallels with An Gorta Mór and the mass displacement it caused 175 years ago must not be lost on us. 

“We have a moral duty to continue to honour our commitments to those vulnerable and displaced who seek asylum and refuge on our shores.”