Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I thank Senator Norris for asking me to second the motion. After his tour de force, I am not sure I can add much. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, to the House.

The point of the motion, in discussing it with Senator Norris some weeks back, was precisely to achieve what is outlined in the Government amendment, namely, to have "a foreign policy based on the values of the Irish people". That is our motivation. It is appalling the Government should choose to amend an acceptable motion which should have been an opportunity to find a consensual approach to foreign policy.

Why do I suggest we should have a foreign policy based on the values of the Irish people? I will begin my argument with regard to the situation in Guantanamo Bay. What do I think of when I consider the issue of people being imprisoned for four or five years without charge, trial or support? I think of the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six and of the values of the Irish people, who were horrified by people being imprisoned unjustly. They spoke out, took a stand and said what they had to say. The opposition to Guantanamo is surely the same as the support for the Birmingham Six or the Guildford Four. It is an opposition to imprisonment without trial. It is the same view the Irish people took with regard to internment in the North. Guantanamo is internment in a different climate and place.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, to the House and thank him for making time available to be present. I was making the point that the motion is closest to the values of the Irish people. As the Minister is a young man, I do not know if he will remember 1959, when the Irish people saw the images of the Dalai Lama being forced down a mountain in Tibet. It tugged at the heartstrings of a nation. The situation is still the same. These are the values of the Irish people. This is why people such as myself, Senator Norris and many others have over the years felt a sense of support for the people of Tibet, who were illegally colonised. Their culture, society and religion were overrun and their religious leader was taken prisoner by the Chinese people.