Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I too would like to put on record my solidarity with the French people for the appalling slaughter that occurred on the streets of Paris on Friday night during what should have been the happiest and most relaxing of times for the innocent citizens who had nothing to do with the conflict that led to their deaths.

I have listened today to expressions of sympathy and solidarity from all sides of the House, and in the media. I believe those expressions to be well meaning and sincere but I have to say that they are just not good enough. The people of France, Beirut, Iraq and Yemen deserve more than kind words. We need to get to grips and come up with solutions to what is going on in this world.

On Friday night, Deputy Wallace tweeted his horror at what was happening in France while also connecting it to French military action, which is one of the biggest superpowers in the world. We were condemned for asking "Why?". At no time then or now would we ever justify the barbaric, monstrous conduct of ISIS but we have a right to ask "Why?", and we do so on a regular basis because everybody knows that ISIS exists in the areas that were subjected to western bombardment. Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen are the places where ISIS lives. Everybody knows it is the Saudi Gulf princes, the UAE and Qatar who are funding these monsters, yet the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, had no problem here last week, when Deputy Wallace questioned him, with our country doing business with the Saudis and giving them money which, undoubtedly, will be used to fund or arm ISIS. Can the Minister not see the hypocrisy in that? Can he not see the hypocrisy in the fact that Shannon Airport was probably used today to transit munitions or troops to the Middle East or that last year, two flights carrying munitions and explosives to Saudi Arabia overflew Ireland? How do we know they did not end up in the hands of ISIS? We do know that weaponry belonging to the West in Iraq ended up in the hands of ISIS so how do we know that some of the weaponry that transited over Ireland to Afghanistan did not end up in its hands also? We do not know because we do not search the planes and we do not ask, but we do allow ourselves to be willing allies of that process.

Earlier the Taoiseach said that our response needed to be increased security and increased vigilance but did not open his mouth about our complicity in the horror that is unfolding. That is not good enough for the families who are grieving in France. It is not good enough for Irish citizens who are rightly worried about what is going on in the world. People are struggling to make sense of the nightmare because it does not make sense.

Based on what is happening in stock exchanges, it is clear there are winners from this. America, on the one hand, condemns what is going on and signs a multi-billion dollar arms contract with the Saudis. US defence firms' share prices are skyrocketing today and the defence industry in Britain is getting an extra €2 billion for its coffers. Money is dictating. We need to do things differently if we are to get a solution. With our peacekeeping history, Ireland could have a pivotal role in this, if we were truly neutral. It is about time we started playing our role on the world stage in that way.

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