Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)

Yes, absolutely. When there is a ceasefire and a peace agreement in Ukraine, Ireland is fully prepared to play a real part in that. Just two weeks ago, I was in Colombia, one of 13 Irish Aid countries, and our programme work there is solely in relation to peace. The experience of Ireland has been put into action to uphold the 2016 peace agreement. I visited projects with decommissioned FARC guerillas who were being supported by the Irish Government to turn their backs on violence, engage on peace and lead far better lives. This is the sort of thing that we can offer to the world. Deputies in this Chamber regularly refer to this in the context of the situation in the Middle East, and that is true too. There are lots of Irish NGOs working in places like Ramallah in this regard.

Ukraine offers us a great opportunity but, first and foremost, let there be no equivocation about our support for the people of Ukraine. We want to make sure that real peace comes to Ukraine and that this happens through an absolute ceasefire as soon as possible.

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