Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Peadar King and I wish to take him up on some of his points. As a journalist, he poses the question whether the Democratic Republic of the Congo is democratic or a republic. As parliamentarians we must recognise that this is an emerging democracy. Joseph Kabila has been elected in two consecutive elections and the people, therefore, have spoken.

I start on that point because we must treat the Government in Kinshasa seriously as a player in the ultimate solution to the problem. As a media person, Mr. King will know the world does not focus on the Congo to the extent it should. If a settler's child is killed in Israel and a thousand Palestinian children are killed in the occupied territories, how will the western media balance those two events? Hurricanes may be killing thousands of people in places like Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica but the media will run with news of the few boats that have been wrecked on the coast of the United States. Journalists might ask themselves why this is so.

I have a vested interest in the Congo. I lived there on two occasions, in 1970 and 1974, and I travelled extensively throughout the Congo. The film brought back the beauty of the Congo for me. There are key players in this. The Congo is a vast country of about 71 million people. The region where the conflict exists is a tiny proportion of a very underdeveloped country. Infrastructure in the Congo is practically non-existent outside certain areas. The concentration is in the Guma and Kiva areas because of the mineral resources. It is not only because of the mineral resources, but also because of the adjoining neighbours. The key players on this occasion are Rwanda and Uganda.

Rwanda has had a man from its government elected to the UN Security Council for 12 months. Mr. King mentioned that the Security Council has taken a position. Rwanda is playing a very important, dangerous and destructive role there. To state the problem simplistically, concluding the geopolitical issues requires the governments of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The Ugandans are still chasing Joseph Kony in the Gulu district of northern Uganda and Zaire. We can reassure ourselves with the fact that Charles Taylor has been found guilty in Liberia and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment. He was also found guilty of offences related to two issues that have been raised today, which are the kidnapping of soldier brides and the recruitment of child soldiers. There is already international recognition that it is a crime to kidnap women to turn them into brides of soldiers. I thank Mr. King for bringing these issues to our attention again. We had known about them but it is helpful to be focused on these issues occasionally.

At its November meeting, the Foreign Affairs Council seems to have adopted progressive positions and to understand the role Europe must play in providing assistance.. Whom did the Council assist? We sit here and talk about the white man and the United Nations and so on. Of course they have roles to play. As the world's political dynamic unravels it is important to recognise the responsibility of Arab countries for policing, monitoring and engaging in human rights in the Arab countries, and they are doing so very successfully. We must also recognise the role of the African Union. All of Africa is not in turmoil as this region is. The African Union has a key and, I hope, a leadership role to play in bringing the key players of the Congo and Rwanda, Uganda and the international agencies of the United Nations together.

I thank Mr. Peadar King and Ms Mairéad Ní Nuadháin for their thought-provoking film.