Sir, – On Friday, the people of Ireland will have the opportunity to elect 11 Irish members of the European Parliament.
The choices we make on May 23rd will have a relevance for international issues such as climate change, trade, taxation and energy, and will therefore have a direct influence not just on us, but also on the rest of Europe and on the global community.
In Ireland and around the world, people have long fought for the right to have a say in the way their country is being run. And still today, millions of people do not have a say in the policies that affect them.
In most cases this is not because they do not have a vote, but because they have no influence on the centres of decision making.
For millions of poor people in Europe and beyond, decisions made (or not made, as the case may be) in European capitals about finance, trade, climate and agriculture can be the difference between prosperity or dismay.
One of the great challenges of the 21st century is to reduce the alienation and marginalisation experienced by billions of people, and to acknowledge that our decisions on what may seem local issues have global repercussions.
On Friday, we can use our voice and our vote, to choose a better future for ourselves, but also for all those without a say. – Yours, etc,
HANS ZOMER,
Director,
Dóchas,
1-2 Baggot Court,
Lr Baggot Street,
Dublin 2.