Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

Like many in the international community, the Government has been closely following events in Egypt in recent days in the run-up to historic parliamentary elections which are due to get under way on 28 November. We all recall the events last February in Tahrir Square which proved so inspiring, when the discredited government of former President Hosni Mubarak was swept away in an impressive demonstration of people power. In the intervening nine months, Ireland and its EU partners have been monitoring closely the transition to democratic rule in Egypt. We have been offering all possible political support and responded positively to requests for practical assistance. It is recognised that, as in other countries undergoing democratic transformation in the region, the uprising in Egypt that ended President Mubarak's rule was a genuinely popular one, drawing support from all sectors of society, and that it is for Egypt itself to determine the pace of its own transition and how the international community can best assist.

It needs to be recognised that profound and historic changes have taken place in Egypt during the past nine months. The country is on the verge of holding its first genuinely free elections in many years. Political parties have been openly campaigning, many of which, including those linked with the Muslim Brotherhood, would only have encountered repression previously. The former President and his close associates have been publicly put on trial for their crimes, an event to behold for ordinary Egyptians when they consider how impregnable the rule of President Mubarak appeared just one short year ago.

Despite this, concern has been growing in recent months at the overall slow pace of the transition in Egypt and the degree of real change and reform taking place. Despite repeated requests from the European Union and others, the ruling Supreme Command of the Armed Forces has refused to lift the long-standing state of emergency. As a hard hitting Amnesty International report has highlighted in recent days, we have continued to see large-scale trials of civilians in military courts, as well as many credible reports of arbitrary detention and torture.

Also of considerable concern has been the growth in sectarian tension. This had its most recent manifestation last month, when more than 20 people, mostly Coptic Christians, were killed after coming under attack from elements linked with Egyptian security forces. The military authorities have undertaken to investigate these deaths fully and also promised legislation to address well founded Coptic grievances. As with other aspects of the change agenda in Egypt, the pace of reform has been slow and hesitant.

Most recently, the prospect of military rule continuing until well into 2013 has caused renewed apprehension among many ordinary Egyptians, as well as Egypt's international partners. That this and other failures to realise the full promise of change have given way to renewed violence and deaths is regrettable. The Government joins others in the international community such as High Representative Ashton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in expressing our deep concern about and condemnation of the violence in Tahrir Square and other parts of Egypt that is now estimated to have claimed at least 33 lives.

The need for restraint, an avoidance of all violence and renewed dialogue on all sides is obvious. There is no doubt that excessive force has been used by the Egyptian police and security forces in responding to what are peaceful demonstrations in Tahrir Square and other Egyptian cities. The clear impetus behind all the renewed violence and tensions of recent days is the failure to respect fully the democratic aspirations of the Egyptian people. High Representative Ashton has warned that the demands of ordinary Egyptians and their political parties for a progressively unfolding transition that will safeguard the principles of democracy must be listened to.

The head of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces in Egypt, Field Marshal Tantawi, has undertaken to advance the date for the presidential election to next July. He has also held out the prospect of a referendum on the military continuing to play a political role in Egypt. A new government is also likely to be formed. This is a step forward, but considerably more remains to be done if the democratic promise of last February's Tahrir Square revolution is to be fulfilled and if a genuine process of democratic change akin to what is being observed in Tunisia and Libya is to get under way. The Government will continue to work with our EU and international partners to assist Egypt along the path towards democratic transformation.

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