We should salute the Government for the way in which it has handled this crisis. From the first speech of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the United Nations General Assembly last September, including every comment, every answer to every question and every statement given, the Government has tried at all times to recognise the sovereignty of other nations, the humanitarian issues and, above all, the importance of the United Nations. It did not give credence to what was done by the powers which ignored the United Nations. At all times Ireland has tried to be an honest broker. Anyone who reads the Government's motion could not in all honesty say that, if given the opportunity, the vast majority of the people would not back it. A spokesman from the Vatican – the same echo can be heard in the statements of all church leaders – said those who took it upon themselves to go to war without fully using the avenues of diplomacy had a big responsibility before God, their consciences and history.