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

I assure the Minister that will be strenuously resisted in this Chamber. The Minister's stance has exposed the utter hypocrisy of western authorities in respect of this matter. France is better placed and France has a right to defend its citizens - exactly contradictory remarks were made when Russia engaged in the same reprehensible actions by bombing Syria in response to attacks on Russia. The West said Russia should not be doing that because it was endangering its citizens. That was correct for Russia but it is also correct for France.

Sadly, French citizens, completely innocent people who have been slaughtered, are the victims of their Government's foreign policy. French people are closely aligned to Ireland and Irish people have close ties with them. The best aid we can give them is to advise them not to play into the hands of ISIS and to get their Government to stop funding Saudi Arabia, which funds ISIS, and to stop it engaging in actions which will give rise to ISIS activity.

Mali is a former French colony. Much of the intervention and the role of the French authorities in that region stems from their desire to keep control over the uranium, gas and oil supplies in that region. That is really what is at risk there. The idea that we would be involved in some post-colonial effort is reprehensible.

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