Speech delivered at the Dungarvan Malayali Association Onam festival held on 6th September
Namaskaram!
I am honoured to join you for this Onam celebration here in Dungarvan. I am grateful for your invitation, and very glad to be included in such a special festival.
Kerala and Ireland may be small on the map, but both are global in spirit. Our peoples share values that run deep — education, hospitality, justice, resilience, and community spirit. These are the values that have carried us across the world, and they are the values that sustain us today.
Ningalude samuham Waterfordil oru valiya shakthiyaanu. [Your community is a great strength here in Waterford.]
The Malayali community is warmly welcomed. You enrich our society through your work, your enterprise, your culture, and your values. Many of you serve on the frontlines of our health system as nurses, doctors, and carers. Others work in engineering, technology, and the life sciences. In every field you bring service and professionalism, and our community is stronger because of it.
Ningalude sevana manobhavam nammude ellaavarkkum oru prerana aakunnu. [Your spirit of service is an inspiration to all of us.]
Onam itself is Kerala’s great festival, celebrated by people of all communities. It remembers the legendary King Mahabali, whose reign was a time of justice and equality. It is a time when families gather, when flower carpets — the pookkalam — brighten every doorway, and when the great Onam sadya meal is shared with joy. Its message is universal: that true wealth is found not in possessions, but in belonging, in unity, and in community.
Onam oru samuhathinte aaghōshamaanu.[Onam is a celebration of community.]
That message matters here in Ireland too. We know the value of community. We know how important it is to pass on traditions, language, and culture to the next generation.
Bhashayum samskaravum pinthalamkalkku kodukkunnathu valare pradhanam aanu [Passing language and culture to the next generation is very important.]
As an Irish-speaker raising my children in the Gaeltacht, with its rich cultural and linguistic tradition I know that it is a gift. I see the same gift in the Malayali community, whose children grow up with the best of both Kerala and Ireland.
As we say in Irish, Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam — a country without a language is a country without a soul. And I know you understand that, because you live it: passing on your language, your culture, and your values, while also making a full home here in Ireland. Ensuring your children feel fully at home in both cultures, in both traditions – with their grandparents and with their school friends.
Ivide ningal veettil aanu — Ireland ningalude veedumaannu. [Here you are at home — Ireland is your home too.]
So once again, thank you for including me in your celebration. It is an honour to join you, and I wish that this Onam brings joy, friendship, and belonging to you, to your families, and to all of us here in Waterford.
Nanni. Onashamsakal ellavarkkum.
Thank you. Best wishes for Onam to everyone.
Conor D. McGuinness TD 