Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and thank the delegation for coming. I thank the Grand Mufti for telling his story and the tragic story of the loss of his son. I sympathise with him on the tragic murder of his son. He described himself as a bridge between the opposition and the government. In the past here, members of all faiths have acted as bridges in Northern Ireland, including Fr. Faul, Fr. Reid, and others from other denominations have acted as bridges when there was nobody else to act. It is very important that people of many faiths come together when politicians fail to talk to each other. It is important that people talk to each other.

The issue of sanctions is one we have been asked to address. As my colleague has pointed out, sanctions only hurt children and the elderly. The regime and those fighting the regime can get around sanctions but, unfortunately, civilians cannot. I agree with my colleagues that it is ineffective. It is worse than ineffective; it is killing innocent people. We saw that tragically in Iraq when the UN sanctions damaged the supply of simple medicines. That is the sad reality of it and yet now it is being repeated. Hospitals are without basic medicines and people are dying from the lack of proper medical supplies.

What is the delegation's views on what is happening in Aleppo? It is the one issue featuring on all our media at this time. There are many different areas of conflict within Syria. There is huge slaughter of innocent people of all faiths and religions. It is a tragedy of monumental proportions which, unfortunately, has its origins 100 years ago in the middle of the First World War when the fate of the Middle East was decided by powers in Europe that had washed their hands of their actions. The consequences are now being played out throughout the Middle East and they continue to fail the people of the Middle East by their actions and inaction. What are the witnesses' views on Aleppo, Russian and American involvement, what Europe is doing, what Europe is failing to do and what should happen? I agree with my colleagues about trying to get the medicine in and the issue of sanctions. I apologise as I have to go to another meeting.