What Grace spoke about.

18 May

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President, the fatal shooting of journalist Shireen Abu Aqla in Jenin in the West Bank just one week ago is deeply shocking, as were the horrifying scenes of brutality at her funeral. Shireen was shot and her producer and colleague also injured in the course of their work as journalists and while clearly identifiable as press. The critical work of journalists, particularly in places of confl…

2 May

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, after a strong campaign under the city’s first female chief executive, Ann Doherty, I’m delighted that Cork is set to become one of the EU’s climate neutral cities by 2030 under the EU’s mission programme. This will mean transforming transport systems, making Cork a global centre for offshore renewable energy, fostering urban diversity as well as a strong retrofit campaign for warm, …

2 May

2022

EN Speech

A sustainable blue economy in the EU: the role of fisheries and aquaculture (short presentation)

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Mr President, it is time for some common sense in ocean protection and not the bare minimum proposed by some of my colleagues here today. Protected means protected. And we must protect our marine protected areas. Let’s face it – most marine protected areas in the EU are nothing but lines on a map. In almost every MPA today, you find gas exploration, marine traffic, and yes, intensive industrial fi…

5 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Situation in Afghanistan, in particular the situation of women’s rights (debate)

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Madam President, I wish to thank the High Representative, Mr Borrell, for being here. Following years of US—led war and Taliban repression, over 22 million Afghans now face acute food insecurity. As the humanitarian crisis sweeps through Afghanistan, we have seen UN appeals for assistance fall on deaf ears and suffering brushed aside as the eyes of the world focuses now on the horrors in Ukraine. …

9 Mar

2022

EN Speech

General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030 (debate)

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Madam President, we are voting on this Environment Action Programme (EAP) just a week after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its latest sobering assessment report. That report concludes that the scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Any further delay in global action on adaptation and mitigation will m…

8 Mar

2022

EN Speech

The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Putin’s war threatens an entire nation’s people; with nuclear weapons in the hands of a reckless despot, it threatens us all. In any war zone, it is the ordinary people, the children, women and men who bear the heaviest burden. The number of refugees escaping the Ukraine war zone has hit the staggering figure of over two million people – people fleeing their homes in terror, as I spe…

16 Feb

2022

EN Speech

EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, Ukraine, a word ironically originating from the Slavic word for ‘borderland’. As tensions rise along its borders with Russia, activities close to Ukraine’s border with Belarus are an ominous reminder we are, all of us, citizens of a world where the threat of nuclear knows no borders. Footage aired last week showing the chilling sight of Ukrainian military undertaking ammunition tr…

15 Dec

2021

EN Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 16-17 December 2021 - The EU's response to the global resurgence of Covid-19 and the new emerging Covid variants (debate)

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Mr President, thank you and greetings from Dublin to all of you. As you know, in countries around the EU many people face the inconvenience of queuing for hours to avail of COVID-19 booster shots. However, in other parts of the world citizens have been waiting far, far longer, but not for boosters, but for their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines. We face this pandemic from a very privileged position…

24 Nov

2021

EN Speech

Outcome of the COP26 in Glasgow (debate)

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Mr President, COP26 was meant to be an international red alert call to climate action for all industries and governments to stop funding our very own destruction. But are EU Member States hearing this call? Hugely profitable fossil fuel industries that are sending us hurtling towards climate catastrophe continue to receive billions of euros of public funding through subsidies. 25 countries, includ…

10 Nov

2021

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, in a week’s time, the young humanitarian worker, Seán Binder, along with 20 others, will face trial on the island of Lesbos. Their crime: providing a warm and often lifesaving welcome to people on one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world. They stand accused of espionage because they used WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging app used by almost everyone in this room. They ar…

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The Right to a Healthy Environment (debate)

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Madam President, there will be no human rights on a dead planet. There will be no jobs, no equality, no democracy, education, culture or freedom. Scientists warn that we are in the decisive decade for humanity’s possible future on Earth. The right to a healthy environment recognises that protection of the environment must be top of the agenda. Underpinning all other rights, the right to a healthy …

4 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The role of development policy in the response to biodiversity loss in developing countries, in the context of the achievement of the 2030 Agenda (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, throughout our planet, biodiversity is interlinked, interconnected and interrelated. For nature and humanity to survive and thrive together and for the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved, the current trends in biodiversity loss must be reversed. Until this happens, we’re on the back foot around the challenges of poverty and hunger – challenges that are magn…

14 Sep

2021

EN Speech

Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

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Madam President, Afghanistan. The pictures have all but disappeared from our TV screens but in Afghanistan the horror continues for vulnerable women, children, minority populations, human rights defenders and those falling through the cracks. To ensure safety I can’t disclose the painful, direct stories Afghan families have shared with me, their stories of people hiding in fear, driven to despair …

8 Jul

2021

EN Speech

Announcement of voting results

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Mr President, in accordance with Rule 59(4) I request that the file be referred to the committee responsible for institutional negotiations.

7 Jul

2021

EN Speech

Establishment of Antarctic Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and the conservation of Southern Ocean biodiversity (debate)

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Madam President, I am really proud to bring to Parliament today the resolution on the establishment of marine protected areas in the Antarctic Ocean. I am delighted that MEP Catherine Chabaud and I could work very hard on this resolution. I caught my first glimpse of Antarctica from the deck of a Greenpeace ship, long before climate change was recognised by world leaders as an urgent crisis. I was…

7 Jul

2021

EN Speech

General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030 (debate)

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Madam President, today is the culmination of many months of hard work. I owe a debt of gratitude to those who have been involved with myself and my team in compiling this report. It has been a process helped by valuable input from shadow rapporteurs and their teams, as well as other MEPs, NGOs and civil society groups. With their support, I now bring to this chamber what I consider to be a balance…