Seanad debates

Tuesday, 8 December 2015

Charities and Voluntary Organisations: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Rónán MullenRónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá a fhios agam nach bhfuil mórán ama fágtha againn, ach ba bhreá liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Seanadóir Ó Murchú as an ábhar seo a ardú sa Seanad ar maidin. Tá sé fíor-tábhachtach go bpléimis é.

It is to Senator Ó Murchú's credit that he raised this issue this morning and it is important that we gather and speak on it. Somebody once said that justice alone is never enough to solve the great problems that face mankind. It can be all too fashionable these days to talk and to reduce our public discourse to the language of rights. As important as the issues of equality and people's demands for their rights are, neither justice nor the mere granting of or recognition of rights fulfil our duty to others. Charity often becomes a bad term because it can be portrayed as something patronising or as something that fails to recognise people's rights. In fact, we owe a duty of charity to other people. Charity is but an old word for love. We all know that unless there is love and fraternity between people, we do not have a real society.

It is important that at this time of the year we do not just honour those who are engaged in charitable activities on our behalf but that we step up our individual, personal commitment to involvement with charitable organisations in whatever way possible. In fairness to my colleagues in Leinster House, I believe that politicians, perhaps more than other classes or groups within society, tend to make themselves available to charitable organisations to support their work in different ways.

It is also important to remember that while we have serious problems here at home, people in other countries face far greater difficulties. I think of persecuted minorities from the Middle East and elsewhere who do not have homes this Christmas because they have been driven from them. Indeed, Christmas has been abolished in some of the places from which they have come. One thinks of people who still suffer from chronic malnutrition, those who are deprived of education and so on. We must maintain our global focus. We are coming out of a difficult recessionary period but I hope we can recover some of the ground that has been lost in terms of Ireland's contribution to overseas development aid.

I will conclude by recalling that on Thursday last the Oireachtas human dignity group presented the human dignity award for this year to Mr. Barney Curley, famous for his exploits at the expense of bookies. However, he is a man who has dedicated himself almost completely over the past 20 years to raising money for schools and hospitals in countries in Africa, particularly Zambia. This is due in part to his encounters with Irish missionaries working in those countries. It was interesting that Mr. Curley was reluctant to receive the award. He was eventually persuaded to do so when he realised that it would be one small way of drawing attention to the important projects Direct Aid for Africa, DAFA, the charity he founded, has under way. Indeed, he concluded his words of thanks last Thursday at the celebratory dinner with an exhortation to all present not to forget their neighbour, the person isolated or alone who might be in need of a visit in the coming weeks. That, he said, is what human dignity is all about. It was a fitting comment from a fitting and worthy recipient of the human dignity award.

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