Europe Day: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-07
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Eileen Lynch (FG), Agricultural Panel

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Buttimer, agus cuirim fáilte roimhe. As we mark Europe Day it is important that we focus on the values that continue to bind us together as Europeans, which are democracy, co-operation and our continued respect for one another. As has been outlined, Europe is facing many challenges such as the continued rise of populism and the far right, attacks on our democracy and the constant threat of war. As we know, Ireland has benefited massively from its membership of the European Union through developing our infrastructure, through Erasmus programmes and CAP. The benefits of our membership have been endless. As a country that has seen the benefit of EU membership I believe we need to continue to advocate for enlargement of the Union and support our colleagues who wish to become contributing members of the Union. The EU was founded initially as a peace project and I believe enlargement can serve as a valuable security measure since every grey area left by the EU is far more susceptible to Russian influence, as my colleague Senator O'Reilly has outlined, which may pose a threat to Europe in the future. Now more than ever it is important that we stand united. Fragmentation plays into the hands of the enemies of democracy. We cannot allow Europe to be weakened by polarisation and erosion of our shared values, particularly at a time when we cannot rely on our allies in the US as we have done in the past. Support for Ukraine is an essential part of this as it embodies European values and, in a sense, defends Europe. After all, while Russia is focused on the war with Ukraine it cannot fully threaten other European countries militarily. It is important to understand that the eastern front is interconnected and if Kyiv falls, any neighbouring country could be next.
It is important to understand that democracy is what unites us all. It is our defining characteristic which we must nurture and defend. We cannot allow our shared institutions to be exploited. Our primary task is to neutralise the threats of disinformation and hybrid warfare, for social division will be followed by political division, leaving us vulnerable to a potential military threat from the east.
As Ireland prepares to host the Presidency of the Council of the European Union we have a valuable opportunity to help shape these conversations on the future of Europe. We can play a constructive role in promoting unity and supporting democratic values, while ensuring that the European Union remains focused on the needs of its citizens. It is important that we work to strengthen public engagement with Europe. I also note the EMI poll published yesterday, to which the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne referred. While it is great to see that Irish public opinion is still largely in favour of the European Union, 37% of people feel their views are not reflected at European level, while a further 25% feel that they are unsure as to whether or not they are being represented properly at European level. It is incumbent on us as politicians to fix this. We need to make sure that people feel included and can see the benefits of Europe to us.
Europe Day reminds us that the European Union is ultimately about people. It is about peace, opportunity, stability and shared progress. At a time when division and misinformation are becoming more common, these values need to be defended now more than ever. I hope we can play a leading role in this during our Presidency in the latter half of the year.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-07