Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I express the condolences of the Labour Party to the McGrotty family on the deaths of Seán and his two sons, Mark and Evan, and the boys' grandmother, Ruth Daniels, and her daughter, Jodie Lee. County Donegal is no stranger to very serious accidents in recent years involving the loss of life. It is sad that a pleasant spring day turned into such a tragedy for this family, the extended family and their friends in Derry. Anybody who heard Mr. Walsh who rescued the baby and his partner talk about what had happened could not but have been moved by the spectacle of both the tragedy and the courage he and his partner showed in rescuing the baby and the forlornness of the farewell by the father of the family as he returned to rescue his children. In terms of the level of grief and heartbreak, it was an appalling tragedy to befall the family. I extend my condolences, as well as my admiration, to Mr. Walsh for the part he played in rescuing the baby and to all of those working in the rescue and emergency services.

With regard to this morning's atrocities in Brussels, I again offer my condolences to people in Belgium. It is almost certain, given the cosmopolitan nature of the country, that the people who died and were injured came from countries around the world, from a range of different faiths and none or may just have been travelling through Brussels and Belgium. As I said when we spoke in the House before Christmas about the many young people who were murdered in the Bataclan and elsewhere in Paris, it appears, once again, that we are dealing this morning in Brussels with efforts to destroy what we cherish most and what the EU cherishes most, which is our freedom. The attacks last December in Paris were political in nature. Such attacks may at times fly under the flag of religion but they were political in nature and meant to strike at European ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. There will be opportunities to discuss this in greater detail but terrorism has visited again in the most awful forms and, on behalf of the Labour Party, I offer my sympathy to all those affected by this, particularly the relatives and friends of the people who have died.

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