President Michael D Higgins has called for countries to show solidarity by distributing Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations so they are “available, accessible and affordable for all”.
The president made the comments in a video address to mark International Workers' Day.
“Solidarity, in an inter-dependent world, must mean . . . standing shoulder to shoulder with those in other countries, especially poorer nations with fewer financial resources, so that, for example, vaccines are made available, accessible and affordable for all.
“The means of responding to pandemics must be regarded as resources that constitute global public goods . . . our actions must match our words, or we lose credibility.”
Mr Higgins said the failure to establish a true global response to the pandemic is a bad sign in terms of other large challenges like climate change.
“Solidarity, in an inter-dependent world, must mean . . . standing shoulder to shoulder with those in other countries, especially poorer nations with fewer financial resources, so that, for example, vaccines are made available, accessible and affordable for all.
“The means of responding to pandemics must be regarded as resources that constitute global public goods . . . our actions must match our words, or we lose credibility.”
He also discussed challenges to workers' rights.
“May Day through the generations has always been one of the great moral days, a day of invitation to envisage collective welfare, and joy too,” he said.
“For workers all over the world, it provides an opportunity of celebrating the progress made – acknowledging the tireless efforts, in different circumstances, of workers and trade union activists – on making our workplaces spaces that reflect the dignity of work, and safer places of collective experience.
“We are marking May Day – International Workers’ Day, in 2021, for the second time in the circumstances of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic is a crisis that has tested our authenticity when we speak of mutual solidarity. It has laid bare many of the dire consequences of both existing economic inequalities and widespread inadequacies in social protection that are a great scar on our humanity.”
