TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsIreland and Indonesia celebrate shared friendship
We are honored that many citizens and friends of Ireland will commemorate St Patrick's Day across Indonesia’s vast archipelago.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Cheers: Racegoers dressed in Irish colors hurl their hats into the air on March 13, 2025, during St Patrick's Day celebrations at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, the United Kingdom. (AFP/Justin Tallis)
W
hile our global community navigates a fast-moving and unpredictable world, we all seek reassurance, predictability and certainty, just as a boat in uncertain waters seeks a lighthouse on the horizon.
For Irish people and people of Irish heritage one such certainty is the global celebration of our National Day, St. Patrick’s Day. For our small island, from which so many people emigrated throughout our history, March 17 is a world-wide celebration of history, culture, connections and shared values. We are honored that many citizens and friends of Ireland will commemorate this special day across Indonesia’s vast archipelago.
While Ireland’s journey since independence now sees us near the top of the United Nations Human Development Index, we understand the challenges many countries face around hunger and poverty. These difficulties were part of our history too. It is only in recent decades that the Irish economy has flourished.
Ireland’s society has developed as more tolerant, equal and inclusive. Together with our commitment to human rights, international law and multilateralism, we will champion these values if successful in our campaign for membership of the UN’s Human Rights Council 2027–2029. These are commitments we share with Indonesia, current president of the Human Rights Council.
2026 is an important year for Ireland. In July, we will assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Ireland will take on this mantle at a juncture when global challenges have rarely looked so formidable. Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year, has brought war to Europe. Ireland is unequivocal in our support for the brave men and women of Ukraine. We need to see a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence.
Looking at the ongoing situation in Iran and Lebanon, where Irish and Indonesian UN peacekeepers serve side by side in UNIFIL, Ireland’s position is that de-escalation and a return to dialogue, diplomacy and multilateralism is imperative. Ireland also continues to welcome all good faith efforts to implement the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict. We will continue to work for a durable peace between Israelis and Palestinians with the implementation of a two-state solution at its core. This also means, in the West Bank, we must see an end to settlement expansion, rising settler violence and mass displacement.
Ireland is also deeply concerned by the suffering induced by conflict elsewhere in the world, such as in Sudan. The scale and depravity of the horrors being inflicted on the civilian population should shock all our consciences. The international community must do more. We must secure an immediate ceasefire and unfettered humanitarian access.
