DARRAGH O’BRIEN: St Patrick’s Day brings into focus mutual support and partnership

Ireland and SA enjoy warm relations born of a shared struggle for justice, freedom and democracy and our joint commitment to promoting international peace and security. 

In Ireland, we are fortunate to have a national day that almost everyone knows. St Patrick’s Day on Sunday, March 17, is an opportunity to celebrate with the more than 70-million people globally who claim Irish ancestry and the many more who show their fondness for Ireland in any number of ways. This includes SA, which is home to more than 35,000 Irish citizens and many more people with an affinity and family connection to Ireland.

Yet even the notion of “celebrating” in our world today provokes hesitation as we witness a dramatic increase in conflict, instability and violations of international law. We have witnessed more than two years of unprovoked Russian brutality in Ukraine. Sudan has descended into civil war and the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) threatens the stability of the region. The appalling Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year and Israel’s devastating response, killing of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza since, have been viewed with horror around the world. 

Ireland has a clear and principled position on these conflicts. We have demanded accountability internationally for Russia’s illegal invasion, and we are one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine’s path to EU membership. We condemned outright Hamas’ terrorist attack of October 7, and we have called at every juncture for all hostages in Gaza to be released unconditionally. 

We have also strongly argued, since the beginning of the conflict, that Israel must uphold international humanitarian law, agree to a humanitarian ceasefire and for sustained humanitarian assistance to be provided to the more than 2-million desperate civilians in Gaza. Protecting civilians in conflict, all civilians everywhere, is our highest priority. Typically, more than 80% of our country-specific funding supports forgotten and protracted crises such as Sudan, Central African Republic and Myanmar.

We are grateful for the important international role SA plays in its engagement with Russia and Ukraine through the African Leaders Peace initiative, its mediation work in Ethiopia and Sudan, and its commitment to Southern African Development Community peacekeeping missions in Mozambique and the DRC. SA has also shone an important spotlight on the situation in Gaza through its intervention at the International Court of Justice.

Ireland’s own history includes famine, poverty and forced migration. Even the prosperity we have enjoyed since joining the EU in 1973 co-existed, to the turn of the millennium, with conflict close to home in Northern Ireland. These experiences have shaped how we view the world around us today.

It should be no surprise that we look to young people. Young people have been to the fore in opening our eyes to the climate emergency and to the innovative solutions that can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and deliver a clean energy future. Young people globally have demanded respect for international law and for multilateral institutions such as the UN Security Council to speak and act coherently in support of a rules-based order, sustainable development and human rights.  It was these priorities that Ireland sought to emphasise in our most recent term on the council from 2021-22.

In SA too, young people are shaping the public debate on the future of the country with a push to engage as many as possible in advance of the coming general election. Young people are also at the core of Ireland’s partnership with SA, evident in the future leaders that have emerged from the Kader Asmal Fellowship programme, named in honour the eminent jurist, politician and anti-apartheid activist who spent much of exile in Ireland. 

We have also seen this in the Irish Tech Challenge SA start-up programme, which each year attracts some of SA’s most talented and promising young entrepreneurs, many of whom are drawn from historically disadvantaged communities.  Their ideas, energy and professionalism are an inspiration.

Growth story

Young people are also at the heart of Ireland’s growth story. Ireland is home to all five of the world’s top software companies and 14 of the top 15 medical technology companies globally. Those companies and many others put down roots in Ireland because of the ease of doing business and access to a EU market of 450-million people. But they are also in Ireland because of our talent pool, with globally connected young people from around the world, including many South Africans, a key part of our dynamic workforce.

Ireland, like every country, faces plenty of domestic and international challenges. But we also recognise how fortunate we are to feature in the top 10 countries in the UN’s Human Development Index in recent years and the obligation this places on us as global citizens to be a voice for progress, for peace, for human dignity and for equality for all.

We will continue to work with SA in that spirit of partnership to be a voice for all, whether through business links, scholarships, support in the struggle against violence against women and girls or through higher education and scientific links and the promotion of entrepreneurship. This builds on the spirit of solidarity with SA during the anti-apartheid struggle and the solidarity returned to us during the struggle for peace on our island, not least in the personal contribution President Cyril Ramaphosa made to bringing that conflict to an end.

There are many people in SA with family connections and kinship with Ireland and many have made their homes in the Emerald Isle.  We will continue to cherish these links as we build new ones with a new generation of innovators and change-makers.  And we will continue to cherish our cultural and sporting exchanges – games won and lost will promote rivalry and intense pride but never diminish our friendship.

There is an old Irish saying: Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireannn na Daoine, usually translated as “We live in each other’s shadow”. The word “scáth” can be translated as either “shadow” or “shelter”, and the meaning of the saying changes depending on which you choose. For Ireland the choice is clear. We choose shelter over shadow, recognising our interdependence and committing to approach one another in a spirit of ubuntu.

This will remain true for our young people in the world of the years to come. Protecting and supporting each other, and building enduring partnerships, has never been more vital. It is our focus too this St Patrick’s Day.

• O’Brien is housing, local government & heritage minister of the Republic of Ireland.