Michael McGrath
speaker
234 appearances
2 recordings
2 series
first heard Nov 2025
last heard 14 May
Michael McGrath’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in May 2026 with 1.
Appearances
Undoubtedly, it will put the focus on Ireland holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
I do have faith in the national authorities, bear in mind that they are working very closely with the European Union and there is extensive coordination in the preparations and the approach for the EU presidency.
I would say overall, it's a fantastic opportunity for Ireland.
to showcase all that is good about the country.
Ireland, without question, is an example of a country that has made great gains on the back of EU membership and many other countries look to Ireland and I've picked that up many times.
Over the last year and a half, Ireland is seen as an exemplar.
So it's a great opportunity for Ireland to put its best foot forward and to provide leadership for the European Union at a time when competitiveness, security and defence are values such as democracy and other issues are to the fore.
We're looking to protect one of the most precious things we have in the European Union, and that is our democracy.
It has been hard won.
There are many member states of the European Union that just 35 years ago were not democracies.
We need to ensure that our elections are free and fair, that they are free from any external or indeed internal interference.
And fundamentally, what we are seeking to achieve here is that European citizens can vote.
exercise their democratic entitlement in free and fair elections and in a manner that is not subject to any interference.
And so that's why we will be proposing, for example, the European Centre for Democratic Resilience that President von der Leyen first announced in her State of the Union address back in September.
And we'll be fleshing out in a little more detail tomorrow when we publish the proposals, the precise role of this new centre.
But overall, it is going to be a multifaceted approach because we have to protect the foundations of democracy.
That means investing in a free and independent and plural media sector.
It's also about supporting our civil society, but also ensuring that our citizens are given the tools that they need to navigate what is a very complex information environment at the moment.
So investment in media literacy, digital literacy, supporting our citizens in accessing the information that they need to make up their own mind about who they wish to have represent them at a local, national and indeed a European level.
We already have an extensive body of media.
Showing 161–180 of 234 · page 9 of 12
← Previous
Next →