Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is funny to think that, up to a month ago, we were not talking much about Ukraine. In fact, most people, including me, thought it was called "the Ukraine". Now, we are checking the news throughout the day and opening our hearts and homes to the women and children seeking refuge. I hope they will be very happy and safe here, that the family members they have left behind to defend their country will be safe and that this war ends sooner rather than later.

I acknowledge the work all the Departments are undertaking, but I have just taken a call from somebody working in Naas General Hospital who told me that in the last 24 hours more than 50 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the emergency department and the department is at breaking point. These people are traumatised and they also face a language barrier. We have to do better for them. The mental health section in Naas General Hospital is chronically understaffed and will not be in any position to meet what is coming.

The most important response we can make to the Ukrainian crisis is in pursuit of peace. We know that it does not take long for a war to take on a life of its own. Sinn Féin made peace in the North and we are certainly urging peace now. To the Members here who are beating the drums of war, they should know better from their previous employments. Not even in our wildest dreams could Ireland ever become a significant military power. Some of them really need to calm themselves. Ireland was never involved in a war of aggression. It is seen as an honest broker precisely because it is not a militarised nation. We are in a unique position to act as peacemakers, being the only European member state on the United Nations Security Council that is not a member of NATO.

On 6 April, President Zelenskiy is due to address the Houses of the Oireachtas. The commentariat says people love a hero often so they can drag the hero down afterwards. My party is a republican party and it does not put individuals on pedestals. For us, this was always about the Ukrainian people. President Zelenskiy is certainly standing on the shoulders of giants, those giants being his own people who have sacrificed so much as they have resisted the onslaught of the Russian army. I urge Ireland to resist the war jingoism and to be a voice in pursuit of peace, justice and freedom, not escalation.

See this speech in context