Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power, have asked me to send their regrets but they both have engagements. Responding to articles which appeared in the Irish, British and Israeli media, the Minister for Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Tuesday regretting the decision of the Carrickmacross Town Council to remove the signature of the Israeli ambassador from the council's distinguished visitors book.

I am pleased to have the opportunity this evening to read the Minister's statement into the record of the House. The Minister said:

I fully understand and share the deep concerns which many people in Ireland feel in regard to Israel's policies on a number of issues, including the settlement of east Jerusalem and the West Bank and its blockade of Gaza, as well as the allegations of the use of forged Irish passports by Israeli agents. I made our concerns on these matters known last week when I met the Israeli Foreign Minister and visited Gaza. However, it is a basic principle of relations between states that we treat each other's diplomatic representatives with civility and respect, regardless of any policy differences. To do otherwise would seriously undermine the ability of states to conduct international relations.

Ambassadors represent not just their governments but their peoples. In turn, the way that foreign ambassadors are welcomed and received in Ireland says something about us as a people. Foreign ambassadors are free to travel in Ireland and I encourage them to do so. If citizens here feel moved to protest against the policies of the governments they represent, which they have the right to do, I would ask that the do so peacefully and in a way that respects the diplomatic status and personal dignity of the ambassador.

It is indeed the case that many people in Ireland share the Government's deep concerns about Israel's policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, including restrictions on movement, construction of illegal settlements, evictions of families and demolition of their homes, as well as the continuing blockade of Gaza. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the Government, has been active and indeed outspoken on these issues at EU and UN level. The Minister has taken every opportunity to make these concerns known directly to Israeli leaders, including to Israeli Ministers and to the Israeli ambassador here in Dublin.

Last week, the Minister became the first EU Minister for a year to visit Gaza. He was determined to visit Gaza to see for himself the humanitarian situation in the strip. Having been denied entry by Israel, he obtained the agreement of the Egyptian Government to entry through the Rafa crossing. Speaking from Gaza, he made a direct public appeal for the lifting of the Israeli blockade. It is understandable that people may wish to make clear their own concerns, to voice protests and to do something about these issues. However, this should not extend to using insulting behaviour towards the Israeli ambassador, or indeed, any other diplomatic representative.

We expect our own ambassadors abroad to be able to travel and meet people in the countries to which we send them and sometimes to deliver unwelcome messages, safely and with respect for their personal dignity and their status as representatives of Ireland. If we want our ambassador in Israel - or anywhere else - to be heard with courtesy and respect, we must reciprocate those practices here. It would be misguided to remove the page in the visitors' book which the ambassador of Israel had been invited to sign, regardless of who invited him and in whose presence he signed. I understand that those who decided to do so were motivated by a desire to protest against Israeli Government policies, but to treat the ambassador as a pariah, to try literally to erase the fact of his visit from the record, was excessive and could be misunderstood.

Israeli citizens and Israel's supporters around the world are foremost among the people we are trying to reach and whose views we are trying to influence. Indeed, we should not overlook the fact that the strongest, most dogged and most consistent opponents of many of the Israeli Government policies we decry are in fact among the citizens of Israel. For those who would rather Ireland's messages were not heard, nothing could be more welcome than a story such as this. It can and will be used to suggest that Irish concerns about Israel are founded not on a concern to right wrongs, but on vehement antipathy bordering on racism. That would of course be grossly untrue, but we must remember that protest taken too far can undermine the force of the very message that those who protest are seeking to convey.

I know that the members of Carrickmacross Town Council considered this question at short notice and I do not doubt the sincerity of the concerns which led them to decide on that occasion as they did. However, now that they have had an opportunity to reflect fully on the issues I have outlined here, I hope that they might wish to reconsider their decision and express their views by more appropriate means.

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