Results 1-20 of 35 for israel speaker:Thomas Byrne

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Middle East (15 Feb 2024)

Thomas Byrne: ...ultimately a decision for the sporting organisations themselves, which are independent and autonomous entities. In this instance, the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier match between Ireland and Israel was originally scheduled to take place in Israel on 9 November 2023. Following the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last October, Basketball Ireland, the NGB for the...

Select Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (Revised) (8 Feb 2024)

Thomas Byrne: ...new focus on sporting participation benefit as well, because we want to ensure we can get that out of it too. I do not agree there is a contrast between my approach to Russia and my approach to Israel. I have been outspoken on both, but all along I have said it is a matter for the national governing bodies to make those decisions, as well as the international ones. At the last...

Select Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (Revised) (8 Feb 2024)

Thomas Byrne: ...to do that and wrong for us to tell our athletes not to take part in an international sporting competition. I do not think we can do it anyway. There is the UEFA Nations League. We will not meet Israel in that competition, but it is in that same competition today. I have not heard calls from the Deputy or anyone else for Ireland not to take part in the Nations League, so let us have...

Select Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (Revised) (8 Feb 2024)

Thomas Byrne: .... Sometimes we have conversations with that organisation. However, we cannot get involved because we do not have a role in international sporting organisations. The Deputy's position is that Israel should not be part of this; that has been his position for a long time. However, that is not the same as saying that Irish teams should not be part of international competition. If he was...

Palestine: Motion [Private Members] (22 Nov 2023)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. We have had several debates on the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in the House in recent weeks. It is clear there is genuine concern on all sides of the Dáil for the situation people in the region are now facing. I very much welcome that a truce, insofar as it goes, has been announced between Israel and Hamas...

Neutrality: Motion [Private Members] (25 Oct 2023)

Thomas Byrne: ...took on day one is the current position and is the correct position in terms of what is right by international humanitarian law, namely, that we condemn it unreservedly when 1,200 people get killed by Hamas and acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself but we also say to Israel that it has to do this within the confines of international law. That applies to everybody. The...

Situation in the Middle East and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Statements (18 Oct 2023)

Thomas Byrne: ...xe1; an ceart aige faoi sin. Deputy Gannon is absolutely correct to say that Ireland should be a lighthouse for peace. I would strongly argue that is exactly what the Government has done in the past week but also over many decades in regard to Israel and Palestine. We have our own example here of how seemingly hopeless conflict can be resolved through mediation and can continue to be...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (7 Dec 2022)

Thomas Byrne: ...Many people within the European system and our system are dealing with that issue on a regular basis. Some of the other external relations issues mentioned here today are similar, including the Israel-Palestine issue, in that they have been raised by Ireland on numerous occasions. I reject some of the language that has been used in this House about Israel but I am not saying there are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Conference on the Future of Europe and the General Affairs Council: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Thomas Byrne: ...Environment, Climate and Communications. They are all European issues. Some agreements between the EU and various entities such as Azerbaijan have been reached. There is also an agreement with Israel. Not all of them are to provide immediate relief. The Commission is working on the overall package and we would be quite happy for it to do that once it takes everybody's circumstances...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (13 Jul 2022)

Thomas Byrne: Ireland has been to the fore in seeking justice and peace in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Palestine. We were the first country to put forward the two-state solution.

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (13 Jul 2022)

Thomas Byrne: ...to refer to the Minister for Foreign Affairs because it comes up at the Foreign Affairs Council on a regular basis, where Ireland is extremely vocal on all of the issues the Deputy raises about Israel and Palestine, and, indeed, at the UN Security Council. As a matter of fact, it was not discussed at the European Council. It is regularly discussed at the Foreign Affairs Council and the...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (13 Jul 2022)

Thomas Byrne: We will work to have peace and reconciliation between Israel and Palestine. We have always been seen as an honest broker there and we will continue to do that work, but it is done by the Minister, generally speaking, at the UN Security Council and at the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU.

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (13 Jul 2022)

Thomas Byrne: That is easily answered. First, there are no sanctions as of yet generally on Russian gas and yet Deputy Brady seems to have called for them to be against Israel. For the EU, as the Deputy rightly said, to deal with this issue, to try and get gas into the European Union, and to try and get the prices down that his party complains about is a little more complex than shouting in the Dáil.

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (13 Jul 2022)

Thomas Byrne: A deal has been done with Israel and Egypt on co-operation which may lead to more natural gas coming into the European Union. To be very clear, as the Deputy outlined, the practice has always been that these agreements do not apply to the occupied territories. The European Commission has included a unilateral statement in an annexe to this agreement that clearly and publicly underlines the...

Journalists in Conflicts across the World: Statements (24 May 2022)

Thomas Byrne: ...territory, led to justifiable outrage and anger in Palestine, in the Dáil and globally. It is vital that journalists are protected to report on the effects of conflict on the lives of ordinary Palestinian citizens. Israel must immediately comply with calls from the international community to hold a thorough and transparent investigation into the killing of Ms Abu Akleh. It is vital...

Seanad: Europe Day 2022: Statements (11 May 2022)

Thomas Byrne: ...of veto on that and we can stop it, but what is it they want us to change from what we are doing at the moment? We are pursuing peace. We are pursuing reconciliation. We are being robust in defending human rights. Reference was made to Israel and Palestine. We in Ireland have a very robust policy on that, which is not shared by all member states. The policy has not been forced upon us...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (26 Jan 2022)

Thomas Byrne: ..., with regard to the Security Council, which I am delighted has been mentioned on multiple occasions today, it was raised most recently on 19 January. The Minister for Foreign Affairs visited Israel, the occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan in the first week in November and he set out our continued support for a two-state solution. The House should not forget that Ireland was the...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (3 Nov 2021)

Thomas Byrne: I have probably answered these questions insofar as I can. As Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs, I do not deal with the Israel-Palestine situation on a daily basis. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is in that part of the world today doing great work on behalf of this country. He is following a long tradition among the governments of this country, going back to...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (3 Nov 2021)

Thomas Byrne: ...That has been a very important objective for Ireland. I have no doubt the Minister, Deputy Coveney, will be only too happy to update the House on that matter in the coming weeks on his return from Israel.

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (3 Nov 2021)

Thomas Byrne: ...asked why it was printed under three stars. The reason, of course, is the great seriousness of that issue, which occurs across the globe and is not related to any specific conflict. The matter of Israel's decision was not on the agenda for the European Council meeting but the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is in the region today. We have consistently raised our voice very loudly on this in a...