Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Yesterday morning I was accused of being ambivalent about killing. I read what I stated, which was "though I may find it morally wrong". I previously stood up in this House and condemned the murder of Rachel Corry. I also condemned the murders of 43,000 civilians in Iraq. I frequently stated that the deliberate or reckless targeting of civilians is a profound wrong. Whether it is deliberate as in a suicide bombing or reckless as in rocketing cars containing 15 year old girls, it is profoundly and morally wrong.

I will not allow anybody to suggest to me that he or she will dictate the language I will use when oppressed people are treated in the way Israel treats the people of Gaza. Israel bombed a power station, and without a doubt, children will die throughout Gaza because electricity is not available to them and because the roads have been destroyed.

I have a hierarchy of values and the victims of oppression come at the top of my hierarchy. My great hero of Irish politics is Daniel O'Connell.