Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Tánaiste to instruct the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, to highlight the history of interventions in this area which are liable to be problematic and disastrous in the long term. President Hollande has said this intervention will last for a matter of weeks only. It only takes a few hours to decide to go in but it will take a lot longer to get out of it. This will become a very complex affair. It smacks of French colonialism. France is very dependent on uranium from the area as its nuclear energy is built on the back of cheap uranium supplies from Niger and northern Mali. The French obviously have other interests aside from the problems with the tribes. I suggest that the Africans should be encouraged to deal with their problems but the French should be told to keep their noses well out of the place because I do not think they will help matters.

See this speech in context