Remarks by Minister of State Seán Fleming at Lunch for Diplomatic Corps at National Day of Commemoration

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Your Excellency, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Your Excellences, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Honoured guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to see so many of you here today. 56 resident missions are represented, including four which have opened in the last twelve months. I also warmly welcome those of you accredited to Ireland on a non-resident basis.

Today, on Ireland’s National Day of Commemoration, we honour all Irish women and men who lost their lives, in the service of the United Nations, or in war.

I have just mentioned the States that have recently established presences in Ireland. Ireland, in its turn, is expanding its global presence.

This year, the government announced the planned opening of five new Irish missions. Each reflects a national priority. Our planned new Consulate General in Málaga will provide consular services for our citizens visiting Spain, a country that receives two and a half million visits from Ireland every year.

In Melbourne, we will be supporting our diaspora and deepening economic ties in what I understand is projected to be the largest city in Australia by 2030.

Planned new Embassies in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova demonstrate Ireland’s support for the EU’s enlargement process ahead of our Presidency in 2026.

Another example of this ambition in action is the Ireland-Japan 2025 programme, which will be launched by the Tánaiste on the 25 July. This includes the launch of Ireland House Tokyo and Expo 2025 Osaka. Ireland’s Expo pavilion will host meaningful cultural exchange between Ireland, Japan, and the wider world and showcase Irish creativity in technology, education, design and the arts.

This increase in Ireland’s reach is part of the Global Ireland strategy launched by the government in 2018 to double Ireland’s impact and influence by 2025.

Under this plan, we have opened or announced 27 new diplomatic missions, deepened our economic presences and built a network of cultural attachés.

We are using our wider network to promote our values, including ODA programme, our advocacy for human rights and disarmament, and – the reason we are gathered here today - our unbroken service in peacekeeping.

This year we have seen a much-needed injection of positive momentum across all three strands of the Good Friday Agreement.

With the restoration of Northern Ireland’s Assembly and Executive, and the return of the North South Ministerial Council, all of the Agreement’s institutions are back at work.

Positive progress is easiest when the two governments, in Dublin and London, are seen to be working together on Northern Ireland. I warmly welcome the new British Government's strong statement of its enduring commitment to the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions.

Our respective roles as guarantors of the Agreement is the heart of partnership. We build from there. There is more we can do together to drive reconciliation and fully embrace the potential of the Agreement for all. That creates a context for cooperation that is the very essence of the Shared Island Initiative that this government is driving forward.

The connections between Irish and British people - be they in terms of family, sport, culture - are as rich as they are varied. In my work with the diaspora I have seen the full technicolour of these ties, the contribution which Irish people make to communities across Britain through generations.

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have already had very constructive first engagements with their new British counterparts. We are encouraged that there is a clear desire to strengthen the fabric of relations between our two countries, working together in partnership.

These relations do not exist in a vacuum. We are both European countries: the UK now outside the European Union while Ireland is a proud Member State. Our membership of the EU underpins much of the progress which we have made as a State over the past fifty years. With our fellow Member States, I can confidently say we are better together.

I look forward to the new British government working closely with the European Union on areas of common concern, including how collectively we help respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In the midst of relentless attacks and profound suffering, Ukraine and its people continue to exhibit extraordinary courage. For more than ten years, they have been bravely defending their country from a hostile invasion, fighting for their right to exist, in freedom and in democracy as an independent state.

Last week’s attacks on Ukraine, including the strike on Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital, starkly highlight the brutal and indiscriminate nature of Russia’s execution of this war. A State that commits war crimes by targeting sick children has no interest in peace. Russia must be held accountable for its actions, and for the appalling loss and damage that it continues to inflict on Ukraine.

These heinous attacks also underscore the need for a united front in supporting the Ukrainian Government and people, by whatever means possible and for as long as it takes.

Ireland may be militarily neutral, but is not politically neutral in the face of this aggression against a sovereign state. We have committed some €345 million in bilateral support for Ukraine since February 2022.

We have also welcomed 108,000 Ukrainians under the Temporary Protection Directive. They have greatly enriched Irish society.

On this National Day of Commemorations and every day, we remember all the lives lost in Ukraine and we commit to standing with Ukraine as it defends its people and its nation.

We are in the midst of an appalling war, and incredible loss of life in the Middle East, that has the potential unfortunately to again worsen.

Over nine months on since the despicable Hamas attacks of 7 October, the situation remains catastrophic.

Over 38,000 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli military actions. Dozens of hostages remain held by a terrorist organisation, separated from their loved ones.

Strikes continue on humanitarian facilities and locations where innocent civilians are sheltering, in clear violation of international humanitarian law.

Hunger and deprivation now mark the daily lives of those trapped in Gaza with nowhere safe to go.

On the border with Lebanon, we are seeing increasing tensions that risk a wider conflict. This would have devastating consequences for millions more innocent civilians. Our Defence Forces, through their service with UNIFIL, are providing much needed security stability in a volatile environment.

Recent Israeli Government moves to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank, in clear contravention of international law, are exacerbating tensions and further undermining peace efforts.

The international community must make clear that this de facto annexation of Palestinian territory must cease, and be reversed, if we are to see a sustainable end to violence.

Our historic recognition of Palestine in May was motivated by an urge to protect its viability as a State and lend momentum to a political process that can achieve a two-State solution that validates the equal right to self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

We have also consistently made clear that accountability must be pursued for the flagrant breaches of international law that have characterised the conflict in Palestine.

Reaching the Furthest Behind First is the overarching frame of Ireland’s international development policy.

We are working hard to help prevent extreme poverty, hunger, or enduring human rights abuses, blighting the lives of future generations.

Adaptation to the impacts of climate change, Loss and Damage, ocean protection, and climate and security are our priorities in climate action. Our focus is on supporting vulnerable countries and communities and we are in the process of more than doubling our climate finance to €225 million per year by 2025.

The Tánaiste Micheál Martin departs later this evening for a visit to Kenya and Ethiopia.

Ireland has a strong history of solidarity with the people of the Horn of Africa and beyond, reflected not just in the work of our Embassies, but also by Irish NGOs, Irish Missionaries, and through our contributions to UN peacekeeping and EU protection deployments.

The visit to Ethiopia, home to Ireland’s largest bilateral development programme, comes on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of our Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Kenya’s partnership is also critical, as we look to work together to address regional peace and security challenges, global climate action and to implement the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement.

I myself have made a point of visiting seven African countries since I took up my current position at the end of 2022.

I attended the Dakar Summit on Food Security with President Higgins in January 2023 and opened there our first Embassy in francophone West Africa.

In Malawi last year, I saw the devastating impact of Cyclone Freddy and the work of Ireland and international partners to support response efforts. In Zambia, I saw the importance of education as a driver of transformative change.

I also visited Ethiopia and Uganda in October/November 2023, meeting with Ministerial counterparts, and helping cement good bilateral rations. But, more importantly, I visited some of the poorest parts of both countries.

I visited Nigeria and Ghana for St Patrick’s Day, where I saw first-hand several Irish Aid funded projects, working to enhance education partnerships between Ireland and the region, and our support for the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Accra.

This is why we have a development programme: to invest in education, in gender equality, in food and nutrition, in order to help build sustainable and prosperous societies.

In concluding, and as we honour all Irish women and men who lost their lives, in the service of the United Nations, or in war, I want to thank you for joining with us to mark this important and special occasion. Your presence is a mark of empathy, friendship and mutual respect, and I should like to conclude by offering a toast to the Heads of State represented here today.