Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Ukraine's agony continues. Some 1 million refugees have left the country and thousands of civilians have been killed. Cities, homes and healthcare facilities have been bombed to smithereens. Seven days after the Russian tanks began to roll across the border, Ukraine remains unconquered and the capital is holding out. Amid the horror of Putin's war two key positives shine out, namely, the resistance of the Ukrainian people and the Russian anti-war movement. Again and again, history has shown that people power holds they key to ending war and dictatorship. The Ceausescus were overthrown not by NATO but by a mass uprising of the Romanian people. The other Stalinist dictatorships were not ended by tanks but by the masses. The beginning of the end of the First World War were the strikes and protests on the streets of Russia that overthrew the tsar and put capitalism into the dock.

Next week, the Irish State will send representatives to Versailles for an informal European Council hosted by President Macron. The question of building a European military machine is expected to dominate proceedings. President Macron's views are well known on this. He has said that we will not protect Europeans if we do not decide to have a true European army. I suspect he will make this point more forcefully next week. This week, the Tánaiste told RTÉ news he thinks Ireland needs to go deeper on the question of European military co-operation. He said it needs to increase military spending and expressed a wish to open up a debate on such issues.

The socialist left looks forward to engaging with the Tánaiste and others in this debate. In that context, I will make a number of points in the time remaining to me. My first overarching point is that the history of Europe shows that dividing the continent into armed camps does not lead to peace. If the Tánaiste goes to Versailles next week, he should take a trip out to the green fields of France and he will see what I mean. Ireland won her independence by way of a struggle against a great imperial power in the 20th century. Ireland should not now align with the ruling classes of France, Germany and elsewhere that are seeking to make Europe a military power in the 21st century.

We oppose any major increase in Ireland's military spending. One of the three options in the recent Defence Forces report was to increase the military spend from €1 billion a year to €3 billion. We think that the vast bulk of that money should be spent on housing, health, childcare and the like and that the majority of people in this country would agree with us on that. We are in favour of spending to end the scourge of low pay in our Defence Forces.

In conclusion, I again call on all people, especially young people, to come out onto the streets to say "No" to war and to show solidarity with and to encourage the two key forces that hold the key to progress here, the brave anti-war protestors on the streets of Russia and, crucially, the heroic ordinary people of Ukraine in their resistance.

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