Seanad debates
Friday, 21 March 2003
Foreign Conflicts: Motion.
It is not a question of being pro or anti-American. There is no question that the US and Britain are our natural allies. The Fine Gael Party has always held that view and will continue to do so. It is not a case of our being aligned on one side or the other in this conflict – our bottom line is that more time should have been allocated to finding a resolution prior to resorting to war. I acknowledge the contribution of the United States and Britain in terms of our economy. People will put economic hypotheses forward in this regard, no more so than the potential gains accrued by us through Shannon Airport. We are not pressing this argument; we just wanted to see what the UN arms inspectors would come up with and we also wanted to have a mandate for a second resolution. This did not happen and that is why we have a problem.
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