Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

It is good to have the opportunity to speak about the European Council meeting that took place at the end of June. Even in the past couple of weeks, things have moved on and changed. The next meeting is not until October. I acknowledge that it is a difficult job for the Government, as a member of a very large bloc and a small country, to try to get our views across. There were 12 key headings, including any other business, and more than 50 individual topics for discussion, not all of which related to us because they concerned EU security issues where we have an opt-out under our neutrality.

I will comment on the major issues. There was fairly unanimous agreement among European Union member states on Ukraine. Its position on Iran is a little watered down. We did not see too much on that.

Aside from the condemnation of the bombing of Iran and trying to ensure that Iran does not get its hands on nuclear weapons, it has been very lax in dealing with the regime itself which has been responsible for record numbers of executions since its inception and continues to harass and murder its own population. While I would condemn any US or Israeli bombing of the Iranian population, I hold no love for the Iranian regime, which funds Hezbollah and Hamas and also helps the Russians to bomb Ukraine.

The key issue for Ireland, as a colonially oppressed nation, is the ongoing sympathy we have for the suffering and the genocide taking place in Gaza and our opposition to the continued Israeli settler incursions in the West Bank. The European Council's conclusions state:

The European Council calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza... It deplores the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, the unacceptable number of civilian casualties and the levels of starvation. The European Council calls on Israel to fully lift its blockade on Gaza, to allow immediate, unimpeded access and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance...

The European Council recalls the imperative of ensuring the protection of all civilians... It deplores the refusal of Hamas to hand over the remaining hostages.

It is all motherhood and apple pie, except it is not about apple pie, but about actual people. As others have said, the European Union has been morally bankrupt on this issue for a long time. Therefore, it behoves countries like Ireland to show moral leadership.

At the European affairs committee last week we had a presentation from the Danish ambassador. Given that Denmark is a small country that was occupied by the Nazis in the Second World War, one would think it would be to the forefront on this issue. However, going by its history, with Denmark helping Danish Jews to flee the Nazis, it has had a kind of friendship with the Israeli state. I would like to have a friendship with the Israeli state if it was not murdering people. The Danes see the Israelis as their friends. The Israelis see Danes as having played a key role. Obviously, I condemn the fact that Ireland was not really to the forefront in assisting Jewish refugees. We had a very piecemeal approach during the Second World War and we should be condemned for that. However, we can see where the Danes are coming from; they are reluctant to fully condemn the Israelis. Therefore, we have to do it. We should work with Denmark to try to push it further because it is a small country like us.

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