Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

The Quartet always mystifies me. What has effectively taken place in the long drag of non-achievement in the Middle East is that when the United States becomes active, everyone else goes silent and when talks fail in the United States, nothing takes place. There must be continuity of action at EU level. For example, there is little activity in the Russian part of the Quartet and only moderate or occasional interest from the UN component. This leaves only the European Union and the United States. If the European Union took the positive step of establishing a secretariat for the peace talks, it would provide an insurance policy or a second strand to provide for the possibility of the US talks going wrong. The idea of a stop-go approach makes no sense. The peace centre in Israel has evaporated. It is probably difficult to get elected to the Knesset if one is not a hawk. Equally, the talks between Hamas and Fatah for reconciliation in the West Bank and Gaza have not made sufficient progress. This is the reason continuity would be served by a permanent secretariat.

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