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

I want to state that we warmly welcome the end of the trial against Ibrahim Halawa. There has been a sustained public campaign and support across the political divide and among the Irish people to ensure that his cause was always in the public profile and that he would be released. It is a source of concern and worry that he has not yet been released and that he is not home in Ireland. He and his family received considerable support from the Irish people, which has to be acknowledged.

In a situation like this, having been a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, I was of a view that I wanted the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the then Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, to have as much space as possible to engage with the Egyptian authorities to effect the release of Ibrahim Halawa. In situations such as this, it is important that we create space for those in authority and I trust the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to do everything it possibly can in such situations. I also acknowledge the role of the Ceann Comhairle and others who led a delegation to Egypt. That was important and it helped to ensure that the Egyptian authorities knew the unanimous position of the Irish Parliament. Having said that about allowing space, the former Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, consistently indicated that he felt that it would perhaps be a guilty verdict at the end of the trial, because there was not much faith in the Egyptian legal system, and that perhaps the President would issue a pardon and Ibrahim Halawa would be released.

It is a matter of grave concern that it took so long and this cannot be let go where it relates to our relationship with Egypt. We had a strong relationship with previous Egyptian Governments, notwithstanding their authoritarian nature, and I was privately very disquieted and concerned at the fact that this went on for so long and that an Irish citizen could be held without trial and deprived of fundamental human rights for so long. This entire unsatisfactory and disgraceful event needs to be evaluated by Ireland. It should play a factor in influencing our future relationship and engagement with Egypt. We need to have some hard discussions with the Egyptian authorities because this cannot and should not be allowed to happen again. It serves nobody, neither the Egyptian people nor Government, and it deprived an Irish citizen of fundamental human rights.

See this speech in context