COVID-19 CRISIS: President Higgins sends message of hope to people of Ireland
President Michael D Higgins has sent a message to the people of Ireland through local and community radio as the country grapples with the Covid-19 crisis.
In a special live address that was broadcast on all of Irelands’s independent radio stations, President Higgins said he and his wife Sabina said they wanted to “offer our deepest sympathies to those who have been bereaved in recent days and weeks as a result of the pandemic”.
He added: “The pain of losing a loved one to this cruel disease has been compounded for so many by the inability of friends and family to offer consolation and support in the way we usually would”.
President Higgins thanked health care workers, GPs, pharmacists and their staff, Defence Forces, and An Garda Síochána, who are all working tirelessly for the people of Ireland.
He said: “We owe all of you an enormous debt of gratitude.”
President Higgins also thanked those “risking their safety” to ensure that necessary services are delivered, such as food and medicines.
He said this is time when we all have been asked to make temporary but significant changes to our lives and he urged people “to abide by them, for all of our sakes”.
President Higgins said this is a global pandemic which challenges us, but he believes we are discovering within ourselves new capabilities in terms of human decencies of empathy and compassion.
He concluded by saying: “When all of us can reflect on how best our individual and collective actions can shape the new Ireland that will emerge from this global crisis.”
