Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I noted that those in the Dáil for Leaders' Questions stood for a pause for peace. It is a very good thing that people would stand up and call for world peace. When we look at the horrific conflict that is taking place not only in Ukraine but also in Yemen, Syria, where we have seen the horrors, and many other parts of the world, I do not really understand how we can stand for peace and call for a pause for peace, on the one hand, but there is no sign from the Government of what is supposed to be a neutral country of our actually urging peace in the terrifying conflict taking place in Ukraine. The despicable character, as the Taoiseach called it, of Putin's invasion is beyond question. He is a tyrant, a warmonger and a bully and what he is doing is wrong but that does not mean that continually escalating the war is the solution because it has reached a terrifying level. As I mentioned last week, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which was set up by Einstein in 1945, has stated the clock towards nuclear annihilation is closer than it has ever been since the end of the Second World War. It is 90 seconds to disaster. That is where things seem to be going. President Zelenskyy is looking for tanks. Then he wants F-16 fighters. Where does it go? Is the Taoiseach worried about the possibility of this escalating to a nuclear confrontation which would be a disaster for everyone? Should Ireland not use its voice to call for de-escalation?

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