David Norris (Independent)

I support Senator Ryan's call for a debate on the Middle East. I agree that it is terrible to think that the lives of Palestinians and Iraqis are held in such low regard. I also feel very sorry for the soldiers and their families in America. They are all human beings. In the newspaper today there is a report of one young man weeping as he held the remains of one brother while his other brother was so shattered that his remains were put into a bag. It is appalling to think of this. These were unfortunate people so desperate for work that they enlisted in an army they did not particularly like. This bombing, whatever its source, is outrageous.

We have recently dealt with immigration and this morning people were repatriated to Moldova and Romania but there was a report in The Irish Times on Tuesday, 3 February, about a Nigerian woman, Nimota Banidele, who had three children outside marriage. Two years ago she was sentenced to death under Nigerian Sharia law. She managed to get here but she was refused asylum and was told to go back to a different part of Nigeria. What kind of thinking is that? Surely as public representatives we should protest about this.

On a further human rights issue, on Saturday 21 February there will be the signing of a petition at the top of Grafton Street for Madame Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian and candidate in the presidential elections who was kidnapped by FARC. I and others will be there to protest on behalf of the Colombia 2,000 — not the "Three" — who have disappeared as a result of the actions of friends of the Colombia Three.