Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important issue. Certainly in my lifetime, and I am sure in his too, we have never known of an Irish-owned aircraft and its passengers and crew being hijacked. They were directed to a destination other than that of their choice and were give no opportunity to negotiate that. They were accompanied by a military aircraft and forced to land at a location chosen by the president of a non-EU state.

On its face, this may seem to be just an incident but I believe it was a sinister, terrorist incident. If repeated, which it could be, it will have serious consequences for air traffic, and there are enough difficulties in the airline business with Covid without having another one visit us in this fashion. There is a need for the international community to recognise the seriousness of what this means. If repeated, as is likely, it will create a new terror for people travelling by air. We cannot allow the incident to pass without there being a calling to account of the perpetrators. It does not matter who they are - Heads of State or whoever they may be. The civil and human rights of the passengers and crew on board the aeroplane were at stake and those of others may be put at stake in future.

I raise the issue to let it be known that other European states and democracies throughout the globe need to react to this in a clear fashion. They need to send a message to such perpetrators that this will not go unchallenged, and that it was a criminal act. Because it was a criminal act, it deserves to be referred to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. There is only one way to deal with this kind of incident. I commend the crew and passengers of the aircraft on their bravery and on having to put up with this intrusion into their journey.

See this speech in context