Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Madam President to our Chamber and I am delighted to see the ambassador here as well. I had lots of things written down that I was going to say but previous speakers have stolen my words so I have to ad libfrom here on. I went to Cyprus in 1972, long before most people in this room were born. I remember fondly swimming in January off the coast of Cyprus. What a wonderful place. Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos were all places I loved when I was there. I also loved the beautiful city of Famagusta, which is now in ruins, or at least deserted. This is what happens when people do illegal things and enter a place where they are not welcome.

Not unlike ourselves, Cyprus is in a post-conflict situation. One of the key things we need to remember is that in a post-conflict state, there is the issue of moral injury. This is where people carried out deeds that they ordinarily would not carry out in normal life. The victim of moral injury is not just the individual. It passes down through the family. Generally speaking, the ones who suffered most, certainly in Ireland and I am sure it is the same in Cyprus, were the wives of men who carried out various things. We are now finding that this moral injury passes through the generations. It goes from father and wife down through the family and indeed, in some cases, women who were involved in conflict. It passes right down through the children. Alcoholism, drug addiction and all of these things take place. I would ask Madam President to bring that thought to Cyprus and to look at how it might be affecting Greek Cypriots in particular.

We talked about co-operation between Ireland and Cyprus.An old story is going around about some Cypriots who were working for the Irish Defence Forces when they went to Cyprus in 1964. One of our officers decided they did not have enough to do and taught them how to sow potatoes. The Cypriots did this so well they finished up selling them back to Ireland. Cyprus has a tremendous potato trade. If this story is true, then we want some sort of recompense for all the money Cyprus has made from this trade throughout the years.

It was a wonderful place and I genuinely have wanted to go back there ever since the ambassador was appointed here. I am disgusted to hear she is going away. She should stay. She is entitled to two more years because of the impact of Covid-19. From that perspective, I would like to see the ambassador stay here for another two years. She has done a great deal of work in promoting her country.

The peacekeeping issue and the UN Security Council were mentioned in Ms Demetriou's speech. It is no secret in this country that I am not a fan of the UN Security Council. I see it as a useless organisation dominated by several powerful countries that have a veto. I ask Ms Demetriou to bring back to her Parliament the perspective that when we talk about the UN Security Council here, we talk about its reform. I refer to doing away with the veto. We cannot have countries like Russia, the United States, the UK and France having a veto over decisions made by smaller countries.

My colleague, Senator Joe O'Reilly, spoke about our co-operation in the European Union. The exit of Britain from the Union, or Brexit as it is known, has caused major problems, and especially for small countries. It is going to become vitally important that we work together to understand each other's needs to allow us to maximise our membership of the European Union. Ms Demetriou's presence here again underpins this sort of relationship.

I am going to be unusual now and finish my contribution on time. Ms Demetriou is more than welcome. I thank her very much for visiting us. I do hope to see Cyprus again but, unfortunately, it will not be with that body-to-die-for that I had in 1972. I will go as a rather rotund and follically-challenged old man.