We, the pupils of St. Brigid’s National School, in the year 2016, and representative of all of the children in Ireland, do solemnly declare our hopes and dreams for the future of our nation.
We hope to receive an excellent education. We will work hard to achieve our full potential. Our teachers and parents will work hard to make sure that we succeed. We will always try our best. We hope that our government will reduce class sizes and provide our schools with the necessary resources to help us learn. We are extremely lucky to have such fantastic technology in our school and we hope that this will continue to grow in the future. We hope that the government will provide our schools with more SNAs to ensure the development of children with special needs so that every child can fulfil their potential. Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.
We hope that our health system will greatly improve. Our health is our wealth. We hope that the government continues to apply funding to our hospitals, employing more nurses and doctors. Everyone will receive proper health care. No elderly or sick person will be forced to lie on a trolley in the corridors of accident and emergency departments. They will receive the necessary treatment to get better. We hope that in years to come, medical science will improve and many cures for various diseases will be discovered. As a health promoting school, we will encourage physical activity and healthy eating.
We hope that everybody will have somewhere that they can call home. We hope that our government will make a huge effort to provide more appropriate accommodationfor homeless people. Everyone has the basic right to food, a bed, comfort and warmth.
We hope to live and work in Ireland. We hope that the government will continue to provide employment opportunities so that emigration becomes a thing of the past. We hope that our educated minds and our wealth of knowledge will remain in Ireland and help make our island an amazing place.
We hope that together we can overcome racism. We will become tolerant towards others. We will welcome people from all over the world to our beautiful island. We will accept differences in age, nationality, gender, disability, religious beliefs, sexuality and colour. It is our differences which make us great. We are all unique.
We hope that our Emerald isle will always be clean and green. We will do our best to ensure that we recycle properly in our school and we will encourage others to do so. We will continue to do our best to conserve our natural resources. We will care for our environment and our animals. We hope that our government will make a conscious effort to reduce greenhouse gases. We hope that in years to come there will be less air and water pollution.
We hope that people will learn to see right from wrong. We will do our best to ensure that there is less violence, fraud and theft. We hope that Ireland will become a very peaceful place. Life is precious and we hope that our small nation can inspire other countries to strive for peace.
We hope that there will be more help and support for people suffering with mental health issues such as depression. People will be gentle, kind and considerate to those who may feel lost at times. May these people see the light of hope.We hope that there will be more help for people with addictions such as drug/alcohol addictions.
Above all, we hope that we will be proud of our culture, traditions, heritage and language.The leaders of 1916 were proud of their culture, traditions, heritage and language. We shall maintain that pride. We hope that people will continue to play our traditional games and music. We encourage people to speak our beautiful language. ‘Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.’
On this day, the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, we ask God’s help to strengthen us to continue the good work of those gone before us in creating a peaceful and happy Ireland for generations to come.