Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also want to begin by condemning in the strongest possible terms the murderous attacks perpetrated in Paris in November. As the Taoiseach will be aware, our party president, Deputy Gerry Adams, vice president, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald, and justice spokesperson, Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, at the time visited the French embassy and extended our personal sympathies and solidarity to the French ambassador, the victims, their families and the people of Paris and France. The people of this island, like those all over the world, watched in deep shock and horror the events as they unfolded in Paris last November. All of us must stand against fundamentalism, bigotry, sectarianism and racism.

Tragically, the violence that was witnessed in Paris has been mirrored in countless other barbaric acts. The catalogue of deadly actions makes for very grim reading. Only last Sunday, three bombs killed 45 people in Damascus. Three weeks ago, ten German tourists were killed and another 17 people wounded in a bombing in the historic centre of Istanbul. In the years of war in Syria, more than 300,000 men, women and children, mostly civilians, have been killed. Last October, twin blasts in Ankara claimed the lives of more than 100 civilians. In addition, a bomb was responsible for destroying the Metrojet that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing the 224 people on board.

The United Nations recently confirmed that more than 50 million people have been displaced worldwide as a result of conflict and it faces the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. More than 3,500 people have died at sea since last January in making the desperate crossing to Europe. These victims were ordinary, innocent civilians and, like the citizens in Paris who played no part in any of this, the people of the Middle East are entitled to live in peace and to pursue happiness and prosperity.

This is not a conflict between East and West or between Islam and Christianity, but between fundamentalism and freedom. It is important that we assert that neither religion, gender, colour nor nationalism can be any excuse for violence. Injustice, racism and sectarianism must be challenged. ISIS and other fundamentalist groups thrive on the chaos and destruction that has been wrought in Iraq, Syria, Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East as a direct result of Western military and political interference. This reality cannot be ignored.

See this speech in context