Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

–Notes the decision of the United States, the United Kingdom and others to launch a pre-emptive military strike against Iraq in defiance of the United Nations Charter;

–Condemns the threat or use of war, especially before diplomatic alternatives have been exhausted;

–Notes with alarm the statement by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees that a war would be 'a catastrophe for civilians' and a recent UN report pointing out that consequences of a war would include half a million direct or indirect casualties, the outbreak of disease affecting one million children and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians;

–Expresses shock at the abandonment by the Government of its frequently stated commitment to the role of the UN Inspectors as a means of avoiding war;

–Deplores the failure of the Government to promote alternatives to war or to support other countries who sought a peaceful solution to this issue;

–Further notes that by its silence the Government has failed to reflect the views of the Irish people;

–Deplores the decision of the Government, in the above circumstances, to provide facilities at Shannon Airport for US personnel and equipment in transit to the war, in breach of Ireland's long stated commitment to the principle of military neutrality and calls on the Government to cease forthwith any co-operation or assistance to those operating outside of the United Nations Charter.