Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach visited France on that occasion, with other leaders, to show our solidarity in the face of the appalling murder of French journalists and cartoonists at the Charlie Hebdooffices. The world was truly appalled, not just by the senseless loss of life but also at the very fundamentalist interpretation of the world being imposed on them. The killing of the cartoonists and journalists also struck at the heart of freedom of speech, which is the most sacred freedom in a democracy. It is something we should cherish, nurture and preserve at all costs. That is why many people in developed Western democracies were truly appalled at the nature of the attack. Not only did it involve the murder of individuals who had families and a needless loss of life, but it struck at the heart of the concept and ideal of freedom of speech, the right of people to say things even if one does not like their saying it. That is why it was extremely important that the Taoiseach and others were there to show solidarity and to send a clear message to those who seek to wipe away centuries of progress, tolerance and respect for all religions and freedom of speech.

It is also very important in considering the role of ISIS and the Islamic fundamentalists, who use extraordinarily brutal means to advance their twisted ideology, that we send out a positive message to the Muslim population around the globe. There are approximately 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, many in democracies that work despite having very large populations. It is extremely important that proper signals go out to the Muslim population, the vast majority of whom have no truck with ISIS, Islamic fundamentalism or its methods. ISIS’s reign of terror in Syria and Iraq and other countries represents a fundamental threat to stability in a region that is inherently unstable and has massive problems. It reveals frightening levels of daily brutality and repression that must be stopped and dealt with.

The right of a journalist to print satirical articles and to depict characters in cartoons on contentious issues, including religion and religious beliefs, is sacred to all of us, particularly to the French, with their ideal of the Republic, liberty and all of that. We have a longstanding relationship with France and imported several of those ideals of “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” in 1798 and in our republican tradition - ideals that sprang from the French Revolution. It is important that we were there to support that.

I accept Deputy Boyd Barrett's comment that the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu, on behalf of the Israeli Government, does not send the right signal or message to the Muslim world, because many of the Muslims watching it, particularly those in Arab countries, would not understand it. While I acknowledge that all of our judgments and opinions are subjective, appalling atrocities have been perpetrated against Palestinians in several conflicts in recent years which, without question, amount to war crimes as reported by various UN panels. I recall, during my time as Minister for Foreign Affairs, following the attack on Gaza, the extraordinary pressure that was brought to bear on an independent international panel for daring to come to conclusions which indicted the Israeli Government for the murder of children, women and non-combatants. This speaks to a need for Governments, including ours and others in the European Union, to take a far different line with the Israeli Government from that which has been taken before now. I know this Government was close to Netanyahu’s government in its first phase. A new government has been formed. Europe has been very tolerant of flagrant abuses that have gone on for a long time, in the hope that it could influence a peaceful resolution of the problem by moving towards a two-state solution. We hear now that there is no commitment. There has been a denial of the whole idea of a two-state solution and a retreat from it in the election and the formation of the government, which is extremely hardline and seems hell-bent on beating Palestinians into submission on all fronts and creating a configuration that would make the creation of a Palestinian state almost unfeasible and unsustainable. That was an awful pity at the time.

I support the Taoiseach’s presence at that gathering because it represented a coming together of leaders from across Europe and beyond to show solidarity with the murdered journalists and their families and with the ideal and concept of freedom of speech. Can the Taoiseach tell us whether he had any substantive discussion with President Hollande on that occasion and if, in the bilateral meetings he mentioned and the subsequent meetings, there has been any re-evaluation of the security threat to all EU member states from Islamic fundamentalists?

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