Results 4,241-4,260 of 5,046 for speaker:Paschal Mooney

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (6 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: I fully endorse the comments made earlier by Senator O'Toole and others on the coverage of this House. In this morning's Irish Independent, a lengthy editorial criticised the privacy Bill but welcomed the new defamation Bill that I hope the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, will bring before this House in the autumn. Perhaps the Leader will indicate when we can...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: Senator Ryan does not believe that.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: I now call on the Minister and thank her for allowing some of the time allocated to her to be used to facilitate Members of the House.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following: —deeply concerned at the increasingly serious situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, and especially at the prospect of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza; —convinced that the immediate crisis must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, and that long-term peace and stability for...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: All sides of the House will support the first and second bullet points of the Labour Party motion but beyond that there is divergence, certainly with me on this side of the House. When I first began to study the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship since 1948, my initial sympathies were overwhelmingly with the Israeli people. Then the pendulum swung towards the plight of the...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: ——supported by a pliant US political establishment, governed more by the pressure of the Jewish lobby, and the fear of losing votes and being branded anti-Semitic, than by any sense of political objectivity. On the other side there is now a Hamas-dominated Administration, elected as a response to a corrupt and inefficient Fatah governing class by a beleaguered people, the majority of whom...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: I do not say I am morally superior, just that it added to the sympathy I felt for their plight. They are separated from my family only by geography but both want the same thing. Why should Palestine not have its own state? This motion and the Government amendment concern the latest crisis. I am disappointed that there is no reference in the wording of the motion to the kidnapping of Corporal...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: There is a reference to the kidnapping in the Government amendment. That is the difference.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: While I accept the democratic mandate of Hamas I believe there is an awful lot of ambiguity about it. I do not share the same enthusiasm to embrace Hamas as the dewy-eyed younger politician that I was, who unequivocally supported Fatah despite all that was said about it. What is Hamas? I will quote from an article in The Irish Times, not by a person from that region but by Dr. Rory Miller,...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: This is consistent with Ireland's long-standing support to the Palestinian people. I am also pleased that the EU has clearly stated it will continue to provide all the necessary assistance to meet the basic needs of the Palestinian people. EU assistance will be continued with the establishment of a temporary international mechanism to channel assistance directly to the Palestinian people....

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: On the first day alone, 50 truck loads of basic food items, 100,000 litres of diesel fuel for generators, 80,000 litres of gasoline and 200 tons of natural gas for cooking were transferred to Gaza. Israel has promised to continue to monitor the humanitarian situation and will co-ordinate the transfer of necessary goods with international relief organisations.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: Productive peace negotiations can only take place when both sides are ready and able to make the necessary concessions. Hamas has long been on the EU's list of terrorist organisations and it has done nothing to justify changing European policy towards this organisation. Hamas is currently unwilling to meet the very basic conditions of the Quartet, namely, an end to violence, recognition of...

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: Is it agreed that Private Members' business will be taken from 5.15 p.m. until 7.15 p.m.? Agreed.

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Paschal Mooney: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (21 Jun 2006)

Paschal Mooney: I share the condemnation of the murder of the innocent children. As seems to have been indicated, we need to strike a balance. We must remember the Palestinian Government is dedicated to the obliteration of the state of Israel which is, after all, a democratic state in an oasis of totalitarian regimes.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (21 Jun 2006)

Paschal Mooney: The Government, through the EU, is correct in supporting the efforts of President Abbas who, as the House will know, is about to embark on a referendum to establish statehood. We should also be aware that Ireland has a very proud role in supporting the Palestinian cause going back as far as the late Brian Lenihan who, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, broke away from the European consensus in...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (21 Jun 2006)

Paschal Mooney: I support Senator Leyden's call for the resumption of statements on Palestine. As some Senators will know, this House has a long tradition of debating Palestine and the Middle East on a regular basis. It is incumbent on the Leader to ensure there is regular debate on the Middle East so that this House can put forward its point of view because the Irish position is a credible one in both...