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

A Cheann Comhairle, a Thaoisigh agus a ambasadóir, ar son ár bpáirtí, ar mo shon féin agus ar son muintir na tíre, déanaim comhbhrón le muintir na Fraince, na daoine atá gortaithe, a muintir agus muintir na ndaoine a fuair bás faoin ionsaí fíochmhar foréigeannach a tharla oíche an Aoine seo caite. Chroith an eachtra uafásach seo an domhan ar fad agus, gan amhras, muintir na hÉireann. Ionsaí ar shibhialtacht agus ar na cearta daonna is bunusaí atá againn a bhí ann. Caithfimid bheith d'aon leith le pobal na Fraince agus le pobal an domhain ar fad chun an t-ionsaí seo a cháineadh agus stop a chur leis. Daoine óga a bhí ag damhsa agus ag éisteacht le ceol, ag ithe, ag baint taitnimh as an saol, ag féachaint ar chluiche agus i mbun ghnáthimeachtaí an tsaoil a ndúnmharaíodh. Easpa sibhialtachta agus easpa daonnachta atá i gcroílár ISIS. Ní féidir le haon duine é sin a shéanadh nó aon leithscéal a ghabháil as.

On my own behalf and that of my party, I extend sincere sympathy to all those who have been bereaved, the families of those who have been injured, the injured and the people of France following the savage and barbarous attack last Friday evening. It was a savage attack on our way of life and civilisation. It was also an extraordinary trauma for those in the theatres, restaurants and outside the stadium. The trauma was eloquently articulated on the 9 p.m. news yesterday evening by Katie Healy who detailed her experience in the Bataclan theatre. She described seeing the foot of a terrorist as he walked by her and saying goodbye to her boyfriend, David Nolan. One gets a sense of the extraordinary fear, anxiety and terror that must have been going through the minds of the people who were listening to music, in restaurants and on the streets of France. Sheer terror was perpetrated on them. There is unspeakable grief and will be ahead. There will be many funerals in the weeks ahead. Many families will be in mourning because of the savagery and barbarity of ISIS. Some 129 people were murdered and 352 injured.

Let us be clear. There is an absence of civilisation at the very heart of ISIS. This is the latest in a significant and long line of atrocities. Some 224 holidaymakers were murdered as they travelled home to Russia on an aeroplane in recent weeks. Irish and British people were shot at and murdered on the beaches of Tunisia. The international order as we know it is being challenged in an unprecedented way and beyond anything we have ever experienced. The scale and random nature of the attacks create a vulnerability and understandable fear and anxiety among our peoples. It is worth reflecting on the fact that in the atrocity last Friday people spanning three continents and 12 countries were killed. We stand united with the people of France, Europe and the world. We stand in solidarity with them because we share common values and basic everyday freedoms we cannot and will not ever compromise on. ISIS attacked the very cradle of civilisation as we know it. It is an iconic cradle of the values we cherish - equality, freedom and fraternity.

We must respond in an intelligent way. We must seek to understand the enemy and the underlying issues and factors involved in order to defeat it. One extremely important element that requires further debate is the issue of intelligence capacity. In the modern era intelligence capacity is a key tool in defeating ISIS and combating this form of extreme terrorism. The debate so far has been too one-sided in terms of the issues that have been articulated. I say this genuinely. We need to have the debate in this country and across Europe because it is the most effective tool we have to protect citizens and prevent atrocities such as this.

As a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, I was briefed on a number of occasions on Omagh-type bombings which had been averted by virtue of good intelligence capacity. Bombs twice the size of that used in Omagh had been planned and bombings were averted through the sharing of information between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána police forces. At European level, there has to be absolute sharing of data and intelligence. There can be no holding back. There is no alternative in dealing with this threat and protecting our citizens. The technological revolution - the Internet revolution - has changed the methodology, modalities and communication strategies of extreme terrorists. States have to respond with an understanding of that revolution and come back like with like.

There should be a convening of the United Nations Security Council to respond and ensure an international response under the UN framework to the barbarity of ISIS's attack on France and its people. There must also be an intelligent geopolitical response. There is no doubt that the weakening and dismantling of Libya, hated regime that it was, Syria and Iraq have created a terrible vacuum which has led to the rise of ISIS and a merge to the critical mass that ISIS now represents across this terrain. This means that we must learn lessons from the past, but it must also inform how we deal with this threat and, in particular, how we respond to the Syrian crisis. The peace talks under way have assumed a greater urgency. The response needs wise heads that will prioritise the issues to ensure, in the first instance, the protection of our citizens and peoples. That is extremely important.

We must be very clear. ISIS and the ideologues in it, in particular, have declared war on our civilisation, way of life, values and people by word and deed. They seek to polarise the world. They seek to create mayhem, chaos, fear and anxiety, as they have written. Through this, they seek to engineer change among Europeans and democrats vis-à-visour values and principles. They want us in Europe to become more repressive, intolerant, exclusive and introverted as peoples and societies. If we follow that path, we will play to the ISIS agenda. Multiculturalism and religious freedom are core values which we cannot abandon. Neither can we tar everyone with the one brush. The Muslim faith is one of peace, compassion and truth.

The vast majority of Muslims throughout the world are horrified and appalled at what has happened. These extremists are anathema to them. In Ireland we know only too well what can emerge and happen, and what injustices can follow, if there is an attempt to tar people with the same brush. We cannot do that.

We must also examine our capacities in the light of this atrocity. Given the enormity of what has happened, we must re-examine our capacity to deal with such atrocities, how we link in with our European colleagues, our intelligence capacity, our capacity to respond to threats and events such as this and the Cabinet security sub-committee meetings and so forth. I would appreciate if a comprehensive statement could be issued on that at some stage, in so far as that is commensurate with intelligence and security advice, and if the leaders in the Opposition and others would be briefed on those threats.

Without question, what has transpired has shaken people to the core. It represents an appalling attack on our civilisation. We stand with the Government and with all parties in the House in uniting in sympathy with the French people on the appalling death that has come to their land.

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