Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste is at pains to emphasise that Ireland has not supported military action, but that is mealy-mouthed in the sense that he has said he understands it. He made a clear, unreserved condemnation of the particularly callous attack on civilians using chemical weapons. I agree with the Tánaiste in that regard and I join him in making that unreserved condemnation, no matter who did it, but will he also make a condemnation of military strikes by the United States, Britain and France in Syria? He will not.

I also join the Tánaiste in rightly criticising Russia over its use of the veto on the UN Security Council, but will he criticise the United States for using its veto on the UN Security Council to veto condemnation of the gunning down of unarmed Palestinians by the Israeli defence forces in Gaza? I bet he will not, precisely because he has double standards and all of that points to implicit, tacit support for western imperialism. The Tánaiste is on that side as opposed to the other side, even though he might not have an army at his disposal.

See this speech in context