Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was at the UN Security Council when it met a number of weeks ago. The first item on the agenda, raised by Secretary General Guterres, was eastern Ghouta and he made a personal appeal to all of the states represented around that table to implement an immediate ceasefire. He described what is happening there as hell on earth, and I think many of us who have looked at video coverage and television footage of what was happening at that time in eastern Ghouta, particularly those of us who are parents, found it pretty hard to watch. There is a huge effort to try to make this ceasefire work and stick. Having said that, I think the Assad regime feels it is victorious and needs to finish the job militarily. Of course, that is resulting in ongoing conflict and military activity that is impacting, in a pretty dire way, on many civilians, particularly women and children.

We will continue to push hard through the Foreign Affairs Council and UN structures to ensure that the EU voice is very strong and clear on this, which it is. However, I believe we have some way to go yet.

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