Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)

Your Excellency, President Zelenskyy, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Members of Dáil and Seanad Éireann, Ambassador Gerasko, distinguished guests and friends of Ukraine. A Uachtarán Zelenskyy, tá fáilte mhór romhat i dTeach Laighean, ionad Pharlaimint náisiúnta na hÉireann. Is mór an meas atá againn ort féin agus ar mhuintir na hÚcráine, agus ar an seasmhacht agus ar an diongbháilteacht atá léirithe agaibh chun bhur dtír a chosaint ar an ionróir.

President Zelenskyy, you are most welcome to Leinster House – our national Parliament. I would also like to welcome the First Lady. Mrs. Zelenska is a woman who has become a symbol of Ukrainian dignity and resilience. She is a model for women world-wide.

We gather in solidarity and admiration for you and your people. War is a human tragedy. It destroys lives, uproots families, and leaves scars that endure for generations. War is never a solution, and Ireland knows this truth. Our own history teaches that dialogue, however difficult, can bring peace. The Good Friday Agreement was born from decades of pain and division, yet it proved that even the deepest wounds can heal when people choose negotiation over violence. That lesson gives us hope for Ukraine.

Today, we meet in solemn acknowledgement of the ongoing war against your country - an illegal attack on a sovereign nation, an assault on international law, and a violation of human dignity. Every missile and bullet has shattered lives. Parents mourn children lost. Families endure displacement and uncertainty. Futures have been stolen. No words can capture the suffering of your people. We watch in horror as drone attacks escalate, as your country's infrastructure is ravaged, and at acts that defy all principles of humanity.

The global community must stand united in condemning this war. We must continue to provide refuge. We must provide humanitarian aid but, most of all, we must demand accountability for war crimes.

As a militarily neutral country, Ireland is not, and will never be, morally neutral in the face of atrocity. Our neutrality is a commitment to peace, not indifference. Together with our EU partners, Ireland will stand firm behind Ukraine to ensure Russia ends its aggression. The Irish, who themselves have lived through the trauma of immigration and war, have opened their hearts and homes to the thousands of Ukrainians who now live and work among us. Your people enrich our communities and share their culture, even though their hearts are still with Ukraine.

Ireland’s journey to peace was long and arduous, but it succeeded because people persevered in the belief that peace is the only solution. The same possibility exists for Ukraine.

World leaders would do well to reflect on the powerful words of John F. Kennedy, an American President born of Irish emigrants, a man whose family left these very shores from New Ross, my home constituency of Wexford, as he declared with unwavering conviction in his inaugural address, "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

President Zelenskyy, we hope for, and look forward to, the day that Ukraine can celebrate peace. We stand with the Ukrainian people in solidarity, in friendship and in hope. May your courage and the strength of your people lead to a just and lasting peace.

I now invite you to address both Houses of the Oireachtas.

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