Uachtarán na hÉireann, President Michael D. Higgins has today released his 2024 Christmas Message.
This year’s message is the final Christmas Message which will be delivered by President Higgins, with his term of office to end in November of next year.
In his message, the President draws special attention to those suffering in circumstances of war, circumstances which less and less respect civilian rights and which force endless displacement.
In doing so, the President particularly highlights the brutal attacks and taking of hostages by Hamas on 7th October 2023, the families of whom continue to anxiously await word of their safety; the suffering of the people of Gaza, where 45,000 people including 17,000 children have been killed; the people of Ukraine, who have now endured over 1,000 days of war; and the acute hunger facing 25 million people, more than half the country’s population, in Sudan.
The President pays special tribute to those members of the Irish Defence Forces who will be overseas this Christmas and thus separated from their families, in particular those in Lebanon.
The President also makes special reference to the Irish overseas, to all of our new citizens and those who have sought asylum in Ireland, to those who are homeless, those who have experienced recent loss, those who are ill or who have loved ones who are having difficulties, and the many others in our society in need of real and practical support.
The President further takes the opportunity of his Christmas message to thank all those who sent messages of goodwill to Sabina and the President following the health challenges which they have experienced over the last year, and says that the warmth and encouragement which they received was deeply appreciated by them both.
Reflecting on his final Christmas in office, the President refers back to his first Christmas message in 2011, where he called for the building of a just and inclusive society that ensures the participation of all of our citizens, and repeats his words from that first address that “we are a country of which there is much to be proud; whose possibilities are still to be fully imagined and realised; and whose people I am honoured to serve”.
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