Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

President Zelenskyy today is one of a small band of national leaders who have addressed this House over the past 100 years. I want, if I can, to take some of the words we have heard previously, starting with former United States President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who spoke here some 59 years ago. The words he spoke then are just as relevant today. He stated:

And no nation, large or small, can be indifferent to the fate of others, near or far. Modern economics, weaponry and communications have made us all realise, more than ever, that we are one human family and this one planet is our home.

He went on to say "Ireland pursues an independent course in foreign policy, but it is not neutral between liberty and tyranny and never will be".

That is what guides us today. It guides us in the work we do in the United Nations Security Council, to which we were elected by the small non-aligned countries of this world to stand up for the rights of individual nation states. It is in that spirit that our soldiers march to the hard conflict zones with blue helmets on their heads to try to hold the peace line. It is in that spirit that our Naval Service sails to the Mediterranean to rescue the most destitute and in need. Perhaps even inspired by this, our trawlers in west Cork were willing to head into international seas to uphold the rule of law. It is in this spirit that we have worked through the United Nations and in the European Union calling for stiffer sanctions. With real resolve we will answer President Zelenskyy's call to stop the flow of funds for the war by stopping the flow of fossil fuels, one of the weapons being used in this conflict.