President’s Christmas message highlights plight of displaced

President Michael D Higgins has urged people to use Christmas to reflect on the homeless Joseph and Mary anticipating the birth of their child, “and how they were aided by complete strangers”.

In his Christmas and new year message Mr Higgins said during 2015 one in every 122 people on the planet was a refugee, a displaced person or otherwise forced to leave their homes.

“Wars, conflict and persecution have forced more people to flee than at any other time since records began,” he said.

The President said as people of a migrant nation the Irish were perhaps uniquely placed to understand the great agony experienced by the 60 million displaced people.

“In this context, it is heartening to see how countless people in Ireland have chosen to respond with warmth and real hospitality. Our NGOs, our medical services, and our uniformed services – both at home and overseas – are peopled by those who have chosen to take action, and to be the stranger that offers a helping hand, a shelter, a meal to those in need. How we treat the weakest among us is the finest test of us as a nation,” he said.

Warmth and friendship

During the past year both the President and his wife Sabina had experienced and valued the warmth and friendship of people both at home and abroad “and it is something we deeply appreciate”, he said.

He said it was a privilege to witness the contribution to community and the public world made by Irish people in so many various ways.

“Together, we can strengthen that web of solidarity that binds us as a people and as a global community next year. As we prepare to commemorate the momentous events of a century ago that shaped the birth of our Republic, we are encouraged not only to recall those events, but also to reimagine and take inspiration from the republican ideals proclaimed almost a century ago,” he said.

He said the Christmas story gives guidance “on how to shape our own shared humanity with a regard for future generations.

“This year in particular, we welcome the acceptance of new obligations by nation states in relation to global poverty and climate change,” the President said.

It is my sincere hope that those ideals can inspire each and every one of us on our shared journey where each step made by each citizen, in every generation, matters, a journey that we all make together, never alone.

“As President of Ireland may I offer people everywhere the warmest wishes for a peaceful as well as a happy Christmas and new year,” he said.