Minister Cannon T.D remarks at the Road to Marrakesh Event New York
Speech
26 September 2018My own country, Ireland, has a long history of emigration, and today we are seeing higher levels of inward migration. We know the pain of emigration that is not freely chosen. We also understand the benefits which migration can bring to individual migrants, to their families, to their countries of origin and to the countries to which they migrate.
Ireland believes that the text of the Global Compact, as finalised in mid-July, represents a successful effort to reach a common understanding of the reality of international migration and of how countries of origin, transit and destination can best work together to maximise the positives and address the challenges. I would like to thank Mexico and Switzerland for their work on the Compact.
We must always remember that migrants, whatever their status, have inalienable rights that must be respected.
We need to do more at Marrakech than formally adopt the Compact. We also need to consider how the Compact can best be implemented, how it can be used to have a real impact and how it can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.