Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I rise with a degree of sadness, having listened to the Minister's words, which are correct, when he referred to an "insult to democracy", "obscene charade" and "terrified voters". I will not repeat all we have heard today because the newspapers have been full of this for so long, it is just a horror.

I rise in sadness given that in 1984, when I was chairman of the Irish Management Institute, it was given the task of welcoming Robert Mugabe. He was Prime Minister of a bright new nation that was only four years old. In Ireland, for the State, the missionaries and the non-government agencies that had helped invest in the future of Africa, he was taken as the bright star of Africa and the future. I rise in sadness, therefore, because I think of the hope, confidence and faith we had in the future, our belief in democracy and our belief that this was going to work. It has not.

While we look back and wonder what went wrong and how it went wrong, the question I would most like to address, with the Minister and other speakers, is what we should do. I am concerned because I have read about and spoken to a number of those in Africa who have a history of imperialist aggression in their countries and they do not have confidence that help or anything else should come from those they distrust. This is why Ireland has such a strong say and why the words the Minister uses are so important.

During the week I quoted President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who just yesterday said that "African leaders would not allow western governments to dictate their view of Zimbabwe". I gather that a Member of the Oireachtas said on radio the other day that somebody should kill Mugabe. I am horrified at even the thought of this. We must be very careful of what we say and what we do. The words used by Senator O'Malley, Senator Alex White and other speakers were strong and mean a great deal. However, we must be careful that the steps we take or encourage are in the right direction.

Senator Ross said he did not believe Robert Mugabe is any longer in power and that he may just be the puppet. It is likely the Zimbabwean army has a role. If one watches it on television, one can see it is a strict, disciplined army. This situation is not coming about because of that 84 year old man who held up the Bible and swore to uphold the constitution. I do not believe he is the leader.

We must be careful that we watch what we say and do, but let us continue to use words of the strength the Minister used today. There are many in Africa who oppose him. Kenya's Prime Minister Odinga called for the African Union to send peace forces to ensure fair elections. Peace forces would keep the peace but we must enforce the peace before we do that. This must come from African people themselves. It will not easily come from outside Africa, whether from the United Nations or a country with as good a history as Ireland. The danger is that those in Africa will look on anybody coming from outside Africa as being imperialistic in some form or other. We must be very careful.

I was impressed that Sir Terry Leahy, the chairman of Tesco, announced yesterday it had decided it would no longer buy any products from Zimbabwe during the current crisis. These are the sort of steps we must take. I well remember during the apartheid era that some of us had a choice whether we would buy South African products. The argument was made that if one boycotted South African products, one would hurt those who were worst off in South Africa. The same argument is being made that if one boycotts Zimbabwean products, those who will suffer will be the poorest of the poor. However, there is no choice but to take this type of step.

We must let it be known to the authorities in Zimbabwe — probably the army rather than Mugabe himself — that, given the words used by the Minister and all other speakers in the House today, it is just not possible to accept the behaviour taking place in Zimbabwe. We must ensure they understand how they are regarded by the rest of the world. However, let us be very careful of the words we use.

While some called for people in the North of Ireland to be killed because they disagreed with what they were doing, we would not have peace in Northern Ireland if we had not managed to achieve a solution through those who were regarded by others as the creators of the problem. We were able to solve that problem but we must be careful of the words we use in this case. The Minister used the correct words today. Let us use the power of words and the power of political pressure to ensure we get a solution for those poor people in Zimbabwe who are suffering so much, as we have heard. I urge the Minister to continue with the words he has used and the confidence he has expressed.