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

I welcome Dr. Sabella. His diplomatic team in Ireland does wonderful work. Its members are forever lobbying us politicians, so Palestine is well represented by its embassy staff.

This is a complicated issue that has been torturing me for years. We had a very good Palestinian colleague, Dr. Yousef Allan, who died in office in this country. He was the forerunner for the creation of the embassy. I took part in the Palestinian elections in 1994. During the first Palestinian Authority elections I was based in Jenin.