Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This weekend the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will make an historic first state visit to Ireland on his way to a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York. I warmly welcome the President's visit and I hope it will be a very productive one. I understand that in a meeting with the Tánaiste on Saturday evening there will be a focus on a number of issues, not least the ongoing illegal blockade of Gaza, and the State's recognition of the state of Palestine, which is now long overdue. A Sinn Féin motion to that effect was passed by the Dáil in 2014 and the Seanad did likewise.

The Taoiseach will recall that there is a commitment in the programme for Government and yet he continues to drag his heels on this matter.

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