Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As have many other Members, I want to express my horror and upset at what happened overnight. I got up early this morning to return from Roscommon and I switched on the news after 5 a.m. Having listened over recent days it was probably inevitable it would happen but I still had a belief that Putin would not push this way. The sad thing today is to hear about people being killed and injured. They are innocent people.I am really shocked by the arrogance of the attack. Most of us accepted that there might be some incursion into this alleged independent area, as Russia calls it, but we now see that Russia seems to be targeting a far greater number of areas.

I was one of the foolish people who said for many years that maybe Putin and Russia are different, but that is not the case. We are now dealing with a really dangerous individual. I have been in contact with some Russians I know in this country in recent days who do not approve of this, and we should remember that. They are quite successful young people who are in business and do not want this war. Maybe if he continues this aggressive action, which will result, sadly, in a lot of death for Russians as well as Ukrainians, he may fall on his own sword. It is to be hoped he will, because in a democratic world we cannot stand for this type of aggression from anybody. It is simply outrageous.

As the Taoiseach said last night, and as many others have said, we have just come out of two and a half or three years of Covid. We are not fully out of it, but we are now into a world crisis. As Senator McDowell said, there is going to be pain for this nation. We now have to look out for the vulnerable people who will be hit again by this because of sanctions or whatever. We have to do our best, as politicians, to look after those people.