Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is not much I can add to what has been said today other than to first of all share the outrage and horror of all right-thinking people at the latest outbreak of terror in Gaza and its consequences for the most vulnerable people. Nobody can be in any doubt that the Palestinian people in Gaza are in the grip of a terrorist group, Hamas, whose mutilation, murder and hostage-taking is unconscionable and must be part of every conversation about what ought to, should and can happen into the future.

Just as clearly, how Israel responds to such provocations can never escape scrutiny. We have to engage with the reality that the existence of the people in Gaza and the occupied territories is a very cruel one indeed. While we must always unequivocally accept the right of the Israeli people to defend themselves and support them in that, no state can ever go unchallenged on the question of whether it is engaging with the long-established principles governing whether a war is just and how a war, when there has to be war, can be prosecuted justly. They are long-established principles, not just in the Judeo-Christian tradition but going back to the ancient Greeks. It is never a luxury to reflect on things like proportionality, the ability of the response to deal with a threat and many other considerations that have to be grappled with in international forums.

As a small country, Ireland can feel very powerless. We are part of a wider European Union response mostly, although these days I think it is fair to say that Ireland's distinctive voice is being heard to some degree on this issue. While I am not always sure about whether it is appropriate for our President to speak in a given context, I think he was at least partially right in some of the sentiments he expressed recently.