Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We mark the 74th anniversary of the signing of the Schuman Declaration, which revolutionised the political, economic and social landscape of Europe. When Ireland joined on 1 January 1973, I was a baby. My colleague here, Deputy Carthy, was not even a twinkle in his mammy's eye. Both of us have grown up in a country that has known nothing other than to be part of what was an economic community and then a political union and so on.

There is no doubt that, today, Europe and the wider world again face a period of generational challenge. The recovery from the pandemic continues. Workers and families remain under significant pressure from an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. The climate emergency presents a very real and present threat to our planet. Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s genocidal war on the people of Gaza have tested the EU's commitment to the principles of human rights, democracy, justice, self-determination and peace.

This is also a time for decisions, a time to make positive choices about the future. In just over four weeks' time, voters will go to the polls in the most important European Parliament elections for a generation. These elections can be a catalyst for real change in Ireland and right across Europe. Ireland is an ancient European nation. However, the European Union has often moved in the wrong direction with the wrong priorities, choosing militarisation over peace, privatisation over public services, big corporations over ordinary citizens and communities, and power over partnership. That is not how it should be, as there is a better way. These elections provide an opportunity for voters to drive a refocusing on the issues that really matter to ordinary citizens and communities, namely, workers’ rights, ambitious investment, economic justice, social progress, the advancement of human rights and the ending of war and poverty. We can build a social Europe where the interests of workers, families and communities come first, where the democratic deficit is truly confronted, and where the rights of smaller member states are recognised, protected and strengthened. This is how we enhance the democratic legitimacy of the European Union.

The future of Europe must be about real partnership, nurtured by respect for the independence and autonomy of member states in key areas. These elections provide voters with the opportunity to choose between MEPs who will either stand up for those elements and for Ireland or who will defer to the demands of the powerful in the European Union, between MEPs who will back policies from the EU when they are good for Ireland and for the world or who will automatically accept policies from the EU simply to be the best boys and girls in the class. This weak, dangerous and deferential approach from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil makes European Commissioners believe that Ireland is a pushover. We saw this most strikingly in the attempts by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to run roughshod over Ireland’s neutrality and the independence of our foreign policy when she gave unwavering support to Israel as it perpetrated slaughter and war crimes against Gaza. To be clear, she did not speak for the people of Ireland, and she never will. It is shameful that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil MEPs will now line up to back her for a second term in office. Sinn Féin MEPs, if elected, would not.

The Government's attack on Ireland’s triple lock neutrality protection shows exactly where Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil MEPs will stand on our neutrality. The people of Ireland value our neutrality and Sinn Féin MEPs will defend it.

The unquestioning and deferential approach of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is also at the root of the Government's total acceptance of the EU migration pact.

Discarding Ireland’s right to opt-out of parts of the pact is a bad decision. There are, of course, areas where co-operation is necessary, but throwing our immigration policies in with Brussels lock, stock and barrel is not in Ireland's best interests. Our immigration policies and system must be set here by an Irish Government, not dictated to us by the EU, and of course, that system must be fair, efficient and enforced - a system that upholds human rights, the cohesion of communities and the good of society.

The Europe of the future must be a beacon of freedom and peace. Rightly, the European Union has not been found wanting in standing with the Ukrainian people against Putin's criminal invasion. This same resolve has been shamefully absent when it comes to standing up for the people of Gaza against the slaughter, displacement, starvation and disease inflicted on them by the apartheid State of Israel. The double standards and hypocrisy are clear for all to see. Israel has killed 34,488 Palestinians, including 14,500 children. Now, it carries out air strikes and prepares for a ground attack on the city of Rafah - the place to which hundreds of thousands of Gazans were forcefully displaced in the wake of Israel's initial onslaught. There is nowhere left for them to flee, nowhere left to go. There will be no real evacuation of these Palestinians, no protective corridors, no safe zones. The world knows what will happen to the people of Rafah should Israel launch a ground assault - slaughter, destruction and genocide.

The European Union can no longer stand idly by. A European Union that is true to European values would lead the international community in confronting and holding Israel accountable for its crimes against the people of Gaza and Palestine. In pushing for an immediate and complete ceasefire, the first step must be to cancel the EU-Israel association agreement. The Irish Government must lead the EU by recognising the state of Palestine, as unanimously backed by the Dáil a decade ago, enacting the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 and joining South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel.

The Europe Union we seek is one of genuine partnership, collaboration and solidarity - a Union that is always focused on the uplift of ordinary people, one that is determined to win the race against climate change and realise a renewable energy revolution of which Ireland is at the forefront. This is the vision of Europe in which a united Ireland will finally take its rightful place among the nations of the world.

Now is the time to embrace the empowerment of citizens. Now is the time to reach forward with confidence for a brighter future of equality, prosperity and success. Now is the time for real change in Ireland and across Europe.

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