French nation will stand firm in face of act of terror

Dail Statements on Nice Attacks

Bastille Day commemorates a transformative moment in modern democracy. Each year, the French people remember the value of citizenship, and that France is now a country united.

But last week the peaceful celebrations of national unity and identity were torn apart in Nice. Eighty four people, including children, died on a day that should have only contained joy. Hundreds more were injured.

Our sympathies are with those who were hurt or killed; with their families and friends and with all of the French people.

We know that the unity of the French nation will stand firm in the face of this act of terror. Five days ago, terror briefly replaced joy once more. Once more, our neighbours have been attacked.

What our President has referred to as cowardly, cold-blooded attacks have fuelled fears in France and across Europe. These are assaults on our ways of life; on our values. They are aimed at liberty, at freedom, at democracy.

But they will not work, because in the face of such attacks, we stand together in solidarity. France’s values are Ireland’s values, and an attack on one European country is an attack on all of us.

The three days of national mourning in France have now come to an end. France lifts her head, and looks once more to a better, brighter future.

We stand alongside her.