David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I would like us to visit Evin Prison. I was involved in getting two people out of it in the 1980s. That resulted from a press and publicity campaign. I think we should be able to visit opposition people like Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and the woman who was detained as well. We should discuss issues of human sexuality. There are times when Mr. Ahmadinejad seems to have a remarkably perceptive view of foreign policy, but then he goes off the deep end. He said in New York that there are no homosexual people in Iran. How did he execute two of them if they did not exist? There is an absurdity there. We are just human. We are just flesh and blood. I can sit here talking to the ambassador in a civilised manner, but I know very well what would happen to me if I was a citizen of his country. As we advance towards full equality, I feel an obligation to speak out for human beings like me who comprise a vulnerable minority and whose lives are in danger in a country that was once so wonderful and civilised.