Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome our special guests to the Chamber today. Three years ago Ukraine suffered an invasion of the most horrific form, an invasion the likes of which we thought was left behind in the 20th century and the horrors that emanated from the Second World War. Then we looked at the tanks rolling down the roads towards Kyiv and an image that will stay in my mind is the horrific bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol.

In the three years that have passed since, those who have come here from Ukraine have brought friendship and enhanced our towns, cities and villages. We have benefited in a way we probably could not have imagined previously and for this we should be eternally grateful. However, this week in my constituency many people from Ukraine - who came here in search of sanctuary and found a home, placed their children in schools, made friendships in the community, joined our sports teams and became part of the fabric of community life - have been told they will be uprooted, they cannot stay there anymore, they have to take their families out of schools and move to some other place. This is a horrific form of cruelty and does not denote any sense of solidarity. While we may offer words, the actions of the State, not only in my community but in areas the length and breadth of the country from where we have heard reports of such things, is cruel, unjust and re-traumatising those who previously had to uproot their lives. It should be stopped.

Ukraine suffered a brutal invasion three years ago. Three years on, it is the United States that is looking to strip it of parts. We should acknowledge this for a multitude of reasons because it makes us question our place in the world and who are our allies. It leads us to a simple realisation. The only role for Ireland, a proud Republic which understands invasion and has stood against oppression, and the only role that matters for us despite what some of those in Fianna Fáil will tell us, is to be unrelenting in the pursuit of peace. When the bombs start dropping we are a small country with a proud history but our role can only be to pursue peace.

Deputy Malcolm Byrne spoke about how this needs to make us question our defence and looked at the Opposition as if somehow it was we who left the Defence Forces in such a ragged state that we could not have a ship going out to sea. That was not the Opposition, it was a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government. We believe in an enhanced Defence Forces. We understand the necessity of radar technology to understand what is going on beneath our seas. We absolutely need to have a conversation about Ireland's place in a world that is getting increasingly darker and where the dogs of war are starting to bark. Those subservient forces to my right think we should bark behind the biggest dogs. That is not what we should be doing. What we should be doing is being proud, strong and unrelenting in the pursuit of peace and standing up for the international institutions that were built out of these same conflicts. Now is not the time to remove ourselves from the triple lock and the UN mechanisms that go with it. Now is the time to stand for those principles.

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