Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for what he said. We will work with the Whips through the Business Committee or otherwise to consider the motion. We support the idea of a cross-party motion condemning Russia's actions. Yesterday, I met with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who made a significant announcement in regard to Nord Stream. The approach all along by the European Union has been to work in concert and that unity is our strength.

It is a very dark moment for European history and the Continent. It is very serious. The sheer scale of the militarisation on the border of Ukraine is something we would have thought was a relic of the past, of the Second World War or previous wars. The whole ideological approach from President Putin, the idea that the Bolsheviks got it wrong and that Ukraine does not have a right to exist, has a chilling impact on small states like our own enjoys 100 years of unbroken democracy. The era of states believing they have a sphere of influence and can control smaller neighbours and tell them they cannot join an organisation and must do this or that is over. We can never accept that. The most troubling aspect of the last couple of days has been the content of that speech. It harks back to a completely different era in a different century. It is very serious.

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