Results 1,041-1,060 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Ireland's approach to this issue is, first, to concentrate on the humanitarian assistance we can provide. I have indicated that we are doing that. Second, we are urging that this be dealt with through a UN mechanism. A possible European Union common security and defence policy, CSDP, mission, maybe as some kind of an interim measure pending a UN mission, has been given some consideration....

Other Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Like Deputy Smith, I have met with some of the relatives of the victims of these murders. I met Denise Mullen in Armagh last November and talked with her about her memory, the many other murders that were committed and the suffering it has caused subsequently for families. The families and survivors want to find out the truth. The outcome of the Haass process has produced the framework...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 81 and 91 together. I share the concern about the dangerous situation in the Central African Republic. At the last meeting of the foreign affairs Council on 16 December, I welcomed the decision of the United Nations to upgrade the crisis in the country to a Level III emergency, which should facilitate increased delivery of humanitarian aid. I also...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I have read Ms Cadwallader's book, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland. It is important to say that the 1972-78 period, which forms the backdrop to the book, was a dark one in the history of Northern Ireland and our island as a whole. While the book concentrates on sectarian attacks on the Nationalist community, the author acknowledges that the agony in those dark days was by no...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: As I understand it, the reports were of cages that were used to hold prisoners before they were taken to court or while a search was under way. My information is that the Israeli justice minister has ordered a discontinuation of that practice. There are wider issues relating to detention that we raise. I am concerned that rather than being extraordinary measures that are only applied in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The mistreatment of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in the occupied territories has been a matter of deep concern to us. Ireland with its EU partners has conveyed this concern directly to the Israeli authorities. We feel that this has had some result as the age of criminal responsibility for Palestinian children was raised in 2012 to the same age as that for Israeli children, as...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: First, we have to recognise that the EU, with its member states, has been, by some distance, the biggest single donor in terms of humanitarian assistance to Syria. The EU has also been very active in seeking a settlement and support for the Geneva II talks process. Ireland, on a per capita basis, is at the top end of the donors on humanitarian aid. However, the need is huge, at a number of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I have seen a number of reports relating to this matter. The precise details involved are somewhat confused, and some media reporting may be inaccurate. Nonetheless, there is evidence of unacceptable treatment. Most media reports seem to follow a report from the NGO, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, but the actual report of that NGO does not mention children. There is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: There are approximately 80 Irish citizens who have registered with my Department and who are resident in Syria. We have been advising all Irish citizens to leave Syria since March 2012. Ireland has provided in excess of €14 million in assistance since the crisis began. The total includes support to NGOs partners as well as to members of the Red Cross or Red Crescent and six different...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: This is the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time. That is reflected in the fact that the call from the United Nations for $5.2 billion in humanitarian assistance is the largest call for humanitarian assistance in the entire history of the United Nations. The official figure is 120,000 but we know that may be an underestimate of the number of people killed in this conflict. There are 9...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Lest there be any doubt about it, the Government is involved. It is not true, as Deputy Smith suggests, that the Government became involved at the end of this process. At this time last year, along with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers, MP, I met the First Minister and Deputy First Minister at a time when the flags protest was in a very difficult situation....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: As the Deputy has acknowledged, the prisoners issue was not directly involved in the recent talks. She is aware I have raised a number of these issues with the Secretary of State and the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland. As she knows, some of these cases are at different stages in various court and review processes. Obviously, we have to be mindful of where they are in the court...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: There has been hands on involvement by the Government in these talks. From the very moment Dr. Haass and Dr. O'Sullivan were appointed, we were in contact with them. I met with them before they commenced their work and on a number of occasions while they were doing their work. Over the Christmas to new year period when the talks were in their intensive stage, I was in regular telephone...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I do not agree with that portrayal of it. I think that is inaccurate. The Irish Government was directly involved in this process. The Deputy must remember this process was initiated in Northern Ireland. This proposal was made by the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister, involving all the five political parties in the Northern Ireland Executive. The parties in Northern Ireland,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. As Deputies are aware, the panel of parties talks on parades, flags and contending with the past, under the chairmanship of Dr. Richard Haass and the vice chairmanship of Dr. Meghan O’Sullivan, concluded in the early hours of New Year's Eve. I commend Dr. Haass and Dr. O'Sullivan on the energy, commitment and vision they...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 15, 19, 32, 80 and 88 together. I share the deep concern at the escalating conflict in South Sudan and in particular by reports of violence perpetrated against the country’s civilian population. The violence, which erupted in the capital Juba on 15 December last, has spread very quickly and is now affecting most of the country, displacing more...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Access (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The protracted and tragic crisis in Syria and in neighbouring countries has resulted in unprecedented levels of humanitarian need, requiring a sustained and urgent response from the international community. There are now nearly 9 million people who are in need of immediate life saving support. This figure includes 6.5 million people who are displaced within Syria, and more than 2.3 million...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I am aware of the case to which the Deputy refers of the Cuban citizens imprisoned in the US. As this is a bilateral consular issue between the US and the Cuban authorities, the Government has no standing in the matter. Ireland’s bilateral relations with Cuba continue to be positive and I look forward to the further development of relations in the period ahead.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 26 together. I have made clear Ireland’s strong support for an urgent return to democracy and the constitutional order in Egypt and the lifting of all unwarranted restrictions on Egyptian civil society and Egyptian citizens. I have also personally intervened in the case of our own citizens from the Halawa family, seeking to ensure that they...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East Peace Process (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Ireland has for many years supported the achievement of a fully sovereign state of Palestine as an essential element to the resolution of the Middle East conflict. Both nationally and in concert with our EU partners, we work for the realisation of this goal and to help build up the Palestinian institutions for statehood. Ireland’s position has always been clear that full diplomatic...