Sharon Keogan (Independent)

Before I begin my speech today, I would like to first send my congratulations to President Trump for the successful ceasefire in Gaza and this week's peace summit in Egypt. There is a long way to go in this peace process, but I hope everyone will join me in expressing our support for its success and for bringing an end to the horrendous suffering caused by this war.

I wish to call for a discussion on what appears to be a concerning footprint of the Muslim Brotherhood in our nation and, even more worrying, the failure of our Government to acknowledge it, let alone address it. The cause of my concern was last spring's closure of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland at Clonskeagh. What appears to be a management dispute bears the hallmarks of a struggle between a leadership accused of brotherhood ties and their financial backers from the United Arab Emirates, which banned the organisation in 2013 following accusations of a coup plot. Indeed, the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council has raised concerns about brotherhood ties at Clonskeagh. Let me be clear that this is not about religion. This is about transparency, governance and the ideological influence of a movement that has been banned in many eastern countries, most recently Jordan where it was outlawed following a sabotage plot. Across Europe it is heavily restricted and monitored, yet here in Ireland we face the serious danger that our Government has allowed this ideological network to flourish unchecked.

Before we can discuss proscribing or even restricting this organisation and its affiliates, we must know the truth and currently we are operating blind. I therefore call on the Government and the Minister for justice to initiate a full investigation into the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Ireland. We cannot afford to be naive. The safety, cohesion and even the sovereignty of our republic depends on it.