Dáil debates

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Confidence in Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence: Motion

 

7:05 pm

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy McDonald and her party throwing crass accusations across this Chamber represents the height of hypocrisy. We all know that people make mistakes. To err is human. That Sinn Féin would seek to bring down this Government on an issue about which there has been a full acknowledgement and apology is cynical in the extreme. The governance of our country at this crucial time is too important for such childish game-playing, since that is what this is, and attempts at distraction. The Opposition wants to talk about integrity and probity so let us do that. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has represented this country with distinction on the international stage. He has stood firm in the interests of everyone on this island, North and South, at an extremely challenging time when others either refused to take a stance or sought to use the chaos to further their own agenda. He is a man of the highest integrity, who people have looked to for reassurance and security. While the Minister was speaking about the dangers of Brexit in the face of an onslaught from elements of the British press and spending long days in Brussels working on a deal to mitigate its worst impacts, what was Sinn Féin doing? Sinn Féin refused to take a stance on the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK, preferring to sit out the campaign and leave it to others.

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