Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I can only respond to what is fact. As a country, we support the efforts of those who have been seeking to establish democracy in Egypt, Tunisia and, more recently, Libya. It was hoped that the transition to democracy in Libya would proceed peacefully and that the regime would respond to the Libyan people's demands for change. However, that did not occur. The regime responded to its civilian population viciously. The international community needed to respond to that action, a response that came through the UN. Many of us have often been critical of the slowness of the UN in responding to such situations, but the UN has responded and passed a resolution aimed at protecting the civilian population. Ireland welcomes the passage of that resolution and supports its implementation.

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