Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I support the call for an ongoing debate on the situation in Iraq, the slaughter now taking place there and the general situation in the Middle East. The Very Reverend Matthew Byrne, a former dean of Kildare, has written a wonderful article in today's Irish Independent. Reverend Byrne was a chaplain with the Royal Irish Fusiliers in the Korean War. He mentioned a young soldier in a trench and said it was very strange that politicians who have no qualms about waging war never fight themselves and do not know the young men or women being sent out to do their dirty work. He said that we have learned nothing from the First World War, the Second World War or the Korean War. He made an excellent suggestion that the politicians who promote war should all be brought into one room and given one long sharp needle each with which they could prod each other; he guaranteed there would be no bloodshed in that room.

We can learn an important lesson from this. I wish we had a system whereby we could bring someone such as the Reverend Byrne, a gentleman of such calibre, experience and insight, into this Chamber to address us. At times we feel we are not succeeding in having our voices heard but we must have them heard because otherwise chaos will prevail in the world in the long run.