Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The situation in Catalonia, about which the Taoiseach was asked yesterday, continues to escalate. What conversations has he had, and what does he intend to have, with other European leaders about the escalating crisis?

There was a narrative yesterday, partly echoed by the Taoiseach, involving the condemnation of violence in general and the need for dialogue. Judging from the unprecedented intervention of the Spanish King, it is absolutely clear that the Spanish state is totally intransigent. It is not interested in dialogue or mediation. The belief in Catalonia is that if the Catalonian people try to declare independence based on a 90% "Yes" vote in the referendum, there will be serious repression, more than we have seen to date.

What is the attitude of the Taoiseach towards that? What attitude, if any, has he garnered from other European leaders about what appears to be an intransigent and brutal effort by the Spanish state to suppress people without any willingness to discuss a democratic move towards self-determination by the people of Catalonia? Do European leaders recognise how serious the situation is? It is the most serious political and constitutional crisis Western Europe has faced in some decades. Do the Taoiseach and other European leaders have a sense of urgency about the situation? What stance are the Taoiseach and other European leaders going to take on this situation?

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