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

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party and on my own behalf, I want again to join with Deputies in sending our sincerest sympathy to the families bereaved by this appalling act of terror, which raises the threshold of inhumanity to an incomprehensible level. We send our sympathy to the people of France in what is a deeply trying time for them.

Last Friday, I called to see Ambassador Thébault to convey these sentiments to him personally. During our discussion it became clear that the connections between Ireland and France run deep and strong. Thursday’s horrific act in Nice is the seventh major attack on the French people in recent years.

There is no question where the people of our country stand. We stand in solidarity with France and we stand in solidarity with the great principles of liberty, equality and fraternity which, even after Nice, will always define 14 July.

As we look for ways of responding to the events in Nice, the Bataclan and Charlie Hebdoand to the other horrific events in many parts of Europe and beyond, we must never forget what we stand for and we must never allow the terrorists to define our standards. There is no justification of any sort for these horrific acts. They are illegitimate in every way and they go directly against the overwhelming views of people on whose behalf the killers claim to act. These are not the acts of a religion, a people or a popular movement. They are the actions of small groups of individuals which we must never waiver in opposing.

This is a tense time in global affairs. There are many calls for extreme reaction. There is a natural urge to find refuge in broad definitions of the enemy. New types of terror require new and robust responses. The democratic will cannot be defenceless in the face of those who seek to destroy it but, equally, we must never forget what it is we defend. There are those who love nothing more than to attack the values of Europe by refusing to acknowledge anything that distinguishes it from places dominated by cruel and dominant governments. Nothing will ever convince them. However, Europe is a continent which is defined by a respect for democracy and human rights beyond any other region in the world. France must not stop being France because of these attacks and Europe must not stop being Europe because that is exactly what the terrorists want. They want us to act like them and they want to inspire an extreme reaction. They want to make things immeasurably worse for the communities from whence they came. It is only by creating a spiral of division and destruction that they can win. We can never allow that.

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