John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today, as they have been for the last week, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Ukraine as an aggressive, brutal invasion of their territory takes place and the missiles continue to fall. From the outset, I completely and utterly condemn the actions by the Russian Federation. I want to send a message of solidarity to the many Ukrainian people who have come to Ireland to find a new home. We share their pain at what is happening in their homeland.

Hour by hour, we have witnessed incredible courage and sacrifice by the Ukrainian people in the face of increasingly overwhelming odds as the Russian war machine gears up to escalate the conflict. We have also witnessed many Ukrainian nationals whose sense of duty led them to leave the safety of Ireland and put themselves in harms way to defend their native land. I salute their courage.

The arrogance, disdain and dismissiveness of Vladimir Putin towards the sovereign rights of the people of Ukraine is an affront to the UN charter, democracy, decency and international law. Russian aggression has brought such widespread resolve among democratic nations that there is an appetite to eat the cost of sanctions against Russia whatever that cost may turn out to be.

Russia has attacked a sovereign state. It has brought war to Europe for the first time since the Second World War. It has performed an unthinkable act. More than half a million Ukrainian refugees have attempted to flee the Russian invasion. Some will unfortunately have to make their way to our shores for their protection as they flee from this aggression but I have no doubt that the Irish nation will welcome them with open arms. I also want to commend the efforts of the Irish diplomatic staff and NGO personnel working on the ground in very trying circumstances. Will the Minister update the House on their safety and well-being at this difficult time? A dire humanitarian crisis is developing. It is imperative that we do everything in our power to contribute to the wider humanitarian effort. This should also include the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow full access for NGOs into Ukraine itself.

There is no doubt that Putin’s actions represent a threat to the rules-based international order. The Russian assault on Ukraine represents a pivot point in history. The ripple effects of the attack and the international response will impact on geopolitical and economic affairs for some time to come. Sinn Féin has been consistent from the outset of this crisis in our adherence to the principles inherent in the United Nations Resolution 68/262 adopted by the General Assembly on 27 March 2014 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This UN resolution specifically calls on all states to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state and to settle their international disputes by peaceful means. I add my voice to the calls urging Russia to withdraw its military forces and to return to discussions within the Normandy format.

I have repeatedly called for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements endorsed by the Security Council in UN Security Council Resolution 2202 in 2015 and do so again here today. We believe that efforts must remain focused to establish this resolution as reality.

The democratic nations of the world are united in their outrage against Russian aggression. Sinn Féin supports the continuing imposition of sanctions against Russia as part of an international response designed to bring an end to Russian aggression. Every possible effort must be expended to bring an end to the conflict.

Unfortunately, this conflict is set to get worse, if the current trend continues. The likelihood is the Russians will get more ruthless. There are going to be many more people killed in the coming days and we cannot just sit down and accept that politics has failed. To do so will be to be forced to observe even more unspeakable suffering.

We in Ireland, along with the wider international community, have a moral obligation to the people of Ukraine to bring every diplomatic pressure to bear on Russia and pursue every avenue to bring this crisis to an end. If we do not, we will be talking of Ukraine in the same breath as Syria, Lebanon or Yemen, to name but a few. Here in Ireland, Sinn Féin for close to two years has been pushing to close off access to section 110 funds for use by the Russian war machine and oligarchs. My colleague, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, has raised this issue in the Dáil on several occasions. She did so first with the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, and then, more importantly, with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. Deputy Mairéad Farrell followed this up a letter to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, about the issue. Unfortunately, no response was forthcoming. The Government has refused to address the connection of the International Financial Services Centre, IFSC, to Russia and that is totally unacceptable. I hope the Minister, Deputy Coveney will be able to inform the House as to whether the sanctions imposed by the EU will finally address this and cut off the €118 billion in funds that has been washed through the IFSC.

Sinn Féin has called for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Yury Filatov. The Government has offered a rationale for its decision to demur on this for the time being. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has himself talked of the importance of Ireland acting in unison with our European partners. Ireland is a member of the United Nations Security Council. It secured election to that position predominantly through the votes of many of the non-aligned nations of the world. We sit on the UN Security Council through the gift of non-aligned nations. They look to us to provide leadership, act in the interests of, and to be the dissenting voice to power of the less powerful. Hence, for Ireland to act unilaterally in expelling the Russian Ambassador would not be the act of a lone nation. It would be the action of a nation that has been tasked with providing leadership and example to those nations who have tasked our State with giving voice to the countries who remain outside the power blocs of the various military alliances. When Ireland acts alone, takes a moral stand, and pursues mechanisms designed to exercise diplomatic action in the pursuit of ending violence, our country sends a powerful message. Ireland needs to provide leadership and to provide an example to those non-aligned countries who have placed our country on the UN Security Council. It is our non-aligned status that provides us with the global footprint and soft power beyond anything we could hope to achieve by waiting to follow the examples of alliances.

We can never give up on our attempts to achieve a peaceful solution to any conflict and in this instance, I believe the UN still has a massive role to play in this. We will continue to call for de-escalation, for dialogue and for the UN to have a greater say in attempts to bring about an end to the conflict. I am aware talks are again due to take place this Wednesday between Ukraine and Russia. There must be an immediate ceasefire, the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and the territorial integrity of Ukraine must be fully respected.

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