Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Cooney to the House and thank him for all his advocacy work in the area of emigration. It comes at a time when voices who have the vision to recognise the positive perspective and contribution emigrants can make are more important than ever. I think of Walt Whitman's line, "I hear America singing, the varied carols I can hear", in a poem in which he sets out his vision of and message for America. He is referring to the idea that America is made up of disparate voices who are contributing to and making a republic. We, in this country, also have the task of making a republic. I thank Mr. Cooney for his vision and the way in which he has carried it forward in the various corridors through which he has taken advocates such as Senator Billy Lawless.

This type of constructive narrative is more important than ever because we are living in a time where xenophobic language and messages are on the increase and a negative and hostile narrative is at work. It is also the time of the greatest need in our collective history. There are 65 million people displaced around the world as a result of war, conflict, climate change and other causes. The figure is higher than at any time in our shared recorded history. If ever a constructive narrative and message were needed, it is now.

Ireland played a role at the recent United Nations conference on refugees and migrants. We can be stronger in showing leadership, sending strong messages of support for refugees and ensuring that those who reach our shores are treated with the dignity they deserve. They should be embraced and made fully part of society. It is interesting that Mr. Cooney referred to the children of undocumented immigrants in the United States because this is an area where Ireland does not have sufficiently strong rights in place and one which the Seanad can strive to reform. Senators from across the House in all parties share strong feelings about this issue. Addressing it is one of the challenges the Seanad faces.

The challenge we share with Mr. Cooney arises in the United States and the message in that country. I would like to find out in what ways Senators can support Mr. Cooney. Senator Lawless and others noted that we must not only advocate with the US President, but also contribute to advocacy in Congress, local areas and at state level. The cultural and academic sphere is also important. As a former Fulbright scholar to the New School for Social Research in New York, I benefited from an exchange and I believe there are networks which we can activate.

We, in Europe, have recently seen the political consequences and damage caused by populist, anti-immigrant rhetoric. For example, we saw the implications for immigrants of the Brexit vote. How can we, on both sides of the Atlantic, put forward a constructive and positive narrative that recognises the significant social and economic contribution all immigrants, not only Irish emigrants, can make and how much a society can benefit when everyone who is part of its fabric is allowed to fully contribute and be heard and feel safe doing so?