Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

I welcome the Tánaiste's support and commitment for sanctions against the Burmese dictatorship and in support of Aung Sang Suu Kyi. As has been noted, she is an inspirational figure and her campaigning and that of her supporters have brought pressure to bear on Burma to an extent. However, I refer to the issue of consistency and double standards in another regard. Should the Government, within the European Union, not call for sanctions equally as much against any despotic dictatorship that systematically denies democratic and civil rights to its citizens or ruthlessly suppresses political opposition? Should it not call specifically for sanctions and be a voice calling loudly within the European Union for sanctions just like those imposed on Burma? In this regard, I refer in particular to demanding an end to arms sales by Western and European governments to regimes such as those in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Libya when Gadaffi was the West's friend and so on.

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