Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A Chathaoirligh, Ministers, my fellow newly elected MEPs and, in particular, Noreen Kehoe from our office, who is watching from the Gallery, if you get the privilege of being elected to Dáil Éireann, you enter probably the most famous room in Ireland. When my Labour Party colleagues and I were elected to here in 2011, we were so conscious that every word we uttered in here would be recorded forever and that in generations to come, our descendants would be able to read what we said. It made every early intervention nerve-racking and I must admit to always rising to my feet in this Chamber with a sense of mild anxiety. As has been said, however, the Oireachtas staff have always made working here a proud and inspiring experience. If this is my last contribution that bookends my time here, I would like my daughters, Anna and Sadhbh, perhaps to read these words in time and be proud of them.

What is unique about this Chamber in Ireland is that you cannot cast a vote in here unless you have been elected directly by the people. You can be co-opted to a local authority, the Stormont Assembly or, indeed, the European Parliament, you can be appointed to the Seanad, but you can only sit and vote in this Chamber if you have been directly elected by the people. I thank my constituents in Dublin North-Central and Dublin Bay North for granting me this honour.

Thinking of my infant daughters reading these words in years to come makes me want to emphasise we can only ask of one another to trust our best and most generous of instincts. We must always, in politics and in life, invest in the humanity ingrained in one another's hearts and we must strive to care, to empower and, yes, to love. Politics must be always about improving people's lives, the sharing of ideas, the promise of a future and the recognition of that basic humanity that supersedes any difference that is emphasised by those less generous among us. The challenges we face are huge: climate breakdown, the waging of war, the commercialisation of division, the trumpeting of hate and the inequality that forces so many of our vulnerable citizens, especially children, into the shadows.

As President Higgins once said when explaining the Irish seanfhocail, "Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine", or the people live in one another's shadow. The word "scáth" can also mean "shelter". We must live in one another's shelter, not cast one another into shadows. We cannot allow shadows to emerge where cold, hunger and distrust can fester but provide shelter for family, for learning, for laughter and for love, house our people, engage their minds and set them free - freedom that a flag will never provide. That is why the European Union is so important, a Union that puts the narrowness of nationalism to one side and seeks to empower, to enhance and, yes, to shelter, a Union based on equality, freedom, dignity, workers' rights, common humanity and unity. We all come from somewhere, a family, a community. We are all raised by our own little village.

As I pack away the boxes from my Leinster House office, I cannot help but feel a flood of emotion as the cards, letters and mementos of past battles, campaigns and friendships re-emerge from the shelves. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the passing my father, Seán Ó Ríordáin. My daughters are too young to have known him, but part of the healing process of loss is that a mirror is held up to your own life, your failings, the hurt you have caused and your worth. I can only thank those who, for the past 20 years in council, Dáil, Seanad and European elections, looked beyond those deficits of mine and saw in what I have tried to promote a value system, an ethic that is worth fighting for. I am very thankful to the people of Dublin for electing me as their MEP last month.

We can only strive to do better, to be more honest, to listen more, learn more, soften our hearts and open our minds. Politics and politicians must learn from the past but not be imprisoned by it. It is always about the future, about who needs the future most, and of that ancient, enduring, instinctive cry from within the heart of each of us, to dare to care. For me, this is the turning of a corner, not the end of a road. You cannot travel any journey worth travelling alone. We need one another more than we are willing to admit it. Mar is eol dúinn ar fad, ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.

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