Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend this motion. Like many Members here, it is vital that we give our solidarity to the Ukrainian people. Táim an-sásta a labhairt faoi saoirse na hÚcráine, and against the disgraceful Russian onslaught and the war crimes of Vladimir Putin and his army. We have all seen the scenes. Some Ukrainian people have made their lives in Ireland, in places like Dundalk. They have seen what we have seen. It is a lot more real for them. We can only commend the courage of those who have returned to fight a foreign invader and to defend their homeland. It is one of the things those I have spoken to locally bring up and commend.

It is necessary that we play our part. Everyone has spoken about financial sanctions. There is a need to cut off the supply chain and to cut off the moneys to ensure that the war economy cannot operate. I heard the Russian term “bunt" earlier today, which refers to an uprising from the ground up. It is the idea that one can overthrow a Russian leader.

The big thing required is the courage and the bravery of the Ukrainian people. What is also necessary is that things are made difficult for the Russian economy and for Vladimir Putin and that a determination might be made by others. We have seen the bravery of people who have been protesting on the street. Even some of the people who call him "boss" might think that the boss has gone too far and that it might be time for him to go because nobody knows where exactly he is intent on going at this point in time. However, we all accept that it is somewhere very dangerous.

We probably all expected that the Russian invasion would have had greater military success. However, down to the defence put up by the Ukrainians, that has not been the case. Our big fear is an escalation. We are hearing of further attacks and of a probable escalation in various cities and towns around Ukraine at this point in time. The future is incredibly scary.

Brendan Murphy was in contact with both the Minister for Foreign Affairs and me. I spoke to him a couple of days ago. He was very worried. He had to stop his journey with his family. They were under attack and they were obviously under really terrible conditions. I think he is under slightly better conditions now and is closer to the border. He sent me a message to say that between the Irish and the Ukrainians, they are being minded.

I believe he is in contact with departmental officials and the work that is being done in that regard is, of course, utterly commendable.

I might highlight a couple of things he mentioned in a message he sent to me within the past half an hour. He stated that where he lived, the war is hard, with missile tanks and many Russians and Belarusians - these are his words, not mine - being wiped out. He went on to state Putin's 60 km military column is being broken up, and described the conflict as a bitter war, with ordinary people stopping and disarming the invaders. Missiles are a big problem, he wrote, because they are impersonal and kill anyone who is not strong. All of this is ominous and none of it is good.

Nevertheless, there also has been a response locally in towns such as Dundalk, where St. Patrick's GFC, for example, has been carrying out collections for Ukraine. Many people will say that what is needed is money for the likes of UNICEF and the Red Cross and there is a difficulty in respect of medicines. I and many others have been contacted by people who have pointed out there is a fear in respect of insulin supplies, given there may be only two or three days' worth of them in Ukraine. Moreover, there is a lack of supply even in countries such as Poland. People are looking into organising a collection here but that would need to be facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and whoever else because it would not be possible to deliver these sorts of material by truck. It would need to be co-ordinated and I would like to think work could be done in that regard.

We all stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and I fully support the motion. We have to do whatever we can to ensure the response will hurt in Russia and that it hurts Vladimir Putin's regime in order that we can see an end to the conflict.

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