Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the Palestinian ambassador, the campaigners in the Gallery and those outside Leinster House today. I am proud to be able to speak on this historic day as Ireland finally recognises the State of Palestine. It has been ten years since the Dáil unanimously supported a Sinn Féin motion calling for Ireland to recognise Palestine. It should not have taken ten years, but it did.

Not for the first time, the Irish people are ahead of the Irish Government. The Irish people have always recognised Palestine. For decades, the people of Ireland have wholeheartedly stood side by side with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom and justice, a struggle that we Irish know only too well. Ireland and Palestine have a shared history of struggle against partition and oppression. Today, Leinster House joins thousands of ordinary houses across Ireland who have flown the Palestinian flag for decades.

While recognition is historic, it must not be the end. Words without sanctions are futile. The Government must now take steps to support the Palestinian people to secure a viable and free Palestine. We must sanction Israel for its ongoing gross violations of international law. Ireland must enact the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill and the occupied territories Bill. It must join the International Court of Justice case against Israel and increase funding to UNRWA. Israel must be held to account and face sanctions. There must be no more excuses.

Ireland must use its position to persuade and pressurise the European Union to act. The EU has failed to take any meaningful action against Israel. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has provided cover for Israeli war crimes. What we are witnessing right now in Gaza is ethnic cleansing. This is a war crime. It is genocide.

This week, Palestinian people who moved to a so-called “safe zone” in Rafah were bombed out of existence. Children were burned alive as they slept. It is beyond words. The people of Gaza have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Imagine the torture of knowing that each moment could be your last, as the bombs rain down. If they survive the bombs, they wait to face starvation and famine. This famine is man-made. The Israeli blockade must be lifted right now, a ceasefire must happen right now and America must stop supplying Israel with arms.

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