Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Today in this House, our Minister for Foreign Affairs called on the Zimbabwean Government to change course, respect the rule of law and respond to the clear suffering of the people in Zimbabwe.

I wish to put on record the joy I felt in 1982 when the former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, had the courage to take a neutral stance on the Falklands War. I was so proud and knew that as a small country, we felt tremendous pride when the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs proudly spoke on the steps of UN headquarters and when we took an independent position and did not back the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Subsequently, Mrs. Thatcher had a serious falling out with Mr. Haughey, which affected the Northern Ireland peace process. It took tremendous courage on the part of Mr. Haughey to do this on that occasion.