Similar to her presidential campaign last autumn, President Connolly has listed the celebration of diversity, sustainable answers to climate change, and \u201cpeaceful resolutions to conflict and war\u201d as some of the pressing issues that of our time.<\/p>\n
She referenced our own difficult history of oppression, poverty and mass emigration, which \u201cgives us a lived understanding of the brutal realities of dispossession, hunger and war\u201d.<\/p>\n
She asks the public to remember those who face a similar plight today, mentioning \u201cthe people of Palestine, Ukraine and Sudan\u201d in particular.<\/p>\n
“We hold in our thoughts the millions of people worldwide who are enduring the devastating impacts of interconnected crises of climate change, war, conflict, and displacement, the many families this Christmas who will sadly experience fear, uncertainty, or profound loss,\u201d President Connolly said.<\/p>\n
She paid tribute to those who so generously give their time to others over the festive period, particularly those who provide care to the vulnerable, sick, homeless and marginalised.<\/p>\n
She also extended her \u201cdeep gratitude\u201d to the Irish Defence Forces, \u201cseparated from their loved ones, safeguarding peace and protecting some of the most vulnerable members of our shared global family, in regions far from our shores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delivering her message bilingually, President Connolly said that she is mindful that Christmas is a time when we think of our family and friends, whether they be near or far, or dearly departed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs am \u00ed an Nollaig a mb\u00edonn muid ag smaoineamh ar \u00e1r gclanna agus \u00e1r gcairde, b\u00edodh siad in aice linn n\u00f3 i bhfad uainn, n\u00f3 imithe romhainn ar Shl\u00ed na F\u00edrinne ach f\u00f3s linn in\u00e1r gcro\u00edthe.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wished those at home and abroad a \u201ca very happy and joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year\u201d, offering her warmest wishes to those who will be spending Christmas away from home, and said that she is immensely proud of their \u201cachievements, your contributions across the world\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Connolly said that we have time to reflect on the year ahead, and the kind of world that we would like to have, and the kind of world that we would like to leave behind, to be inherited by our children.<\/p>\n
\u201cAm chun smaoineamh faoin mbliain amach romhainn agus an cine\u00e1l domhain ar mhaith linn a bheith againn, an cine\u00e1l domhain ar mhaith linn a fh\u00e1g\u00e1il in\u00e1r ndiaidh mar oidhreacht d\u00e1r gcuid p\u00e1ist\u00ed.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says that with the hope of the days lengthening again in the wake of the winter solstice, so too are we reminded that \u201cbetter days always lie ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish each and every one of you a joyful Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with light, joy, and peace\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cN\u00edl f\u00fam anois ach Beannachta\u00ed na Nollag a guidh oraibh ar fad agus sonas agus suaimhneas sa bhliain amach romhainn.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Connolly was elected as the tenth Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann by vote on October 24, 2025 and was inaugurated on November 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Similar to her presidential campaign last autumn, President Connolly has listed the celebration of diversity, sustainable answers to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9484,3656,25666,61,60,43,978],"class_list":["post-204658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-christmas","tag-catherine-connolly","tag-deirdre-barry","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-presidential-election"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}