Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join others who have spoken of their regrets about the failure of politics in the US in terms of gun control, but the issue that I wish to focus on is one in which politics must not be allowed to fail. It pertains to the scenes that we saw in Catalonia over the weekend. The response from the Taoiseach has not been adequate. He stated that he would not recognise the result, and so be it, but it is incumbent on him to recognise not only the frustration, but the urgency and danger to the European project of what has been unfolding in Catalonia. The Taoiseach spoke rightly about the danger of state violence leading to radicalisation, but it also leads to another danger stalking Europe at the moment, namely, authoritarianism.