Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

Again, as this is currently before the courts, it is not an issue I can raise with my UK counterpart or discuss here today. What I can and will say to my colleague when we meet is that there is an absolutely necessity to uphold the individual's right to peaceful protest. This is something that we cherish in this country. More broadly, in terms of our support for Palestine, there has been unanimous support for the need to reach a ceasefire. I very much welcome the ceasefire that has been reached, albeit that it is very fragile and difficult. I also very much welcome the fact that hostages have been released and that humanitarian aid has started to flow into Gaza, albeit, again, not at the level that it needs to be. We need to make sure that every single one of our actions now cements and upholds the ceasefire that is currently in place. I have no doubt that citizens in Ireland will continue to raise their voices, to make sure their concerns are heard and to work collectively continue to do everything we can to ensure that the ceasefire holds. For any citizens of Ireland in the UK or anywhere else who need consular assistance, it is there and available to them. We need to make sure that as a country we reiterate and stress every individual's human right to peaceful protest and that is certainly something I will do with my UK colleague.

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