Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

A Uachtarán Zelenskyy, a Cheann Comhairle agus a dhaoine uaisle, President Zelenskyy, Ceann Comhairle and distinguished guests, on behalf of Members of both Houses and on my own behalf, I thank you for being here today at the heart of our democracy, and for the address delivered to this joint sitting of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.

In 2022, when I had the privilege of given the closing remarks to your online address to these Houses, I said that as we sat here in Dublin, missiles and bombs were descending on the innocent women, children and men of Ukraine. I could not have imagined that three years, seven months and 26 days later, Russia’s war of aggression would be continuing to visit unspeakable atrocities on the people of Ukraine.

A month after that address I travelled to Ukraine with the then Ceann Comhairle. When we met with you in your office I wondered how you remained so calm amid all the chaos. There we witnessed first-hand the harrowing consequences of Russia’s war.

In Bucha we saw the mass graves of those killed by the Russian army. In Irpin on the outskirts of Kiev we met with those citizens who had turned soldiers and who had stopped the Russian army and turned them back.

Mr. President, during your inauguration speech in 2019, you told your officials not to put your picture on the walls of their offices but to put pictures of their children on the walls of their offices and to look at them each time they made a decision. This, a chairde, cuts to the core of our Irish and European values, values that promise freedom, integrity and equality.

There are children in Ukraine who have never known a day's safety, never known a day's peace, whose parents go to sleep in often freezing temperatures without power or heat, wondering if they will be awakened by air raid sirens. They continue to endure that terrible reality. There is no explanation that you can give a child for what is happening in Ukraine. That is not because they are too young to understand; it is because what is happening is wrong and cannot be justified. In the 21st century, in a world facing many challenges, we cannot accept the devastation that has been put upon innocent children and their families, some of whom are here today, who had to flee their homes and their livelihoods and journey thousands of kilometres into the unknown.

We must resist aggression at every turn. Our guiding star must be international law and rules-based order, with respect for sovereign nations. It is the only way we can ensure a stable and just Europe, a Europe that rose from the ashes of conflict in pursuit of a peaceful future. There must be peace; it must be a lasting peace. We on this island have known violence and struggle, a violence that devastated our communities, but we now know peace. Ireland and Europe have stood with and will continue to stand with Ukraine, and we hope Ukraine finds a just peace in the near future.

As Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann, and on behalf of the Members of Seanad Éireann and Dáil Éireann, I thank you for being here today, Mr. President, and I thank all those who made it possible. A Uachtaráin, thank you for addressing the Houses of the Oireachtas. Go raibh míle maith agat. Slava Ukraini.

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