Post European Council Meeting: Statements Dail Éireann — 2026-01-14 ============================================================ Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (SF), Cork South-Central These debates on the European Council are a useful opportunity to articulate many issues in the world. Unfortunately, ten minutes would hardly be enough now; 20 minutes would suffice. I want to start by saying how disappointed I am that the European Council spent so little time discussing the biggest conflict in the world at this moment in time, namely, Sudan. It is a conflict that has seen perhaps hundreds of thousands of people killed and millions displaced. Europe and Ireland have close relationships with a country very much encouraging and potentially inflaming the conflict there. It is bitterly disappointing that the biggest conflict and most serious humanitarian situation in the world, a site of immense human suffering, received a fleeting reference in the Taoiseach's statement. At a European Council level, it received effectively no attention. Ireland should take it upon itself to ensure at subsequent European Council meetings that the conflict, tragedy and slaughter receives much greater attention than it is receiving at this point in time. I will touch on a number of areas. Unfortunately, it is difficult to touch on all of them in the limited time afforded to me given the state of the world at this point in time. I want to take this opportunity to condemn the severe and desperate violence against protesters in Iran. The reports coming out of Iran are shocking. The latest reports indicate that perhaps more than 2,000 people have been killed in a wave of repression against protesters. This comes on top of Internet blackouts, thousands of arrests and many people injured. It is very clear that the protest in Isfahan, Tehran and many other cities are significant and represent deep dissatisfaction with the Iranian Government. People have a right to protest and demonstrate and this must be respected. There is no justification for the large-scale repression that is happening. No one should face death or injury for protesting. We express our condemnation of violence, whether against protesters or others, and call on the Iranian Government to respect the rights of protesters to demonstrate and speak out about their entirely legitimate grievances. We are discussing this at a highly uncertain and volatile time. There is conflict in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, Venezuela and many other places. We have an Administration in the United States that has totally departed from the norms of international politics and shaken up its relationship with its allies. It has caused allies to question whether they have allies. At times, that Administration has attacked the Ukrainian Government and backed a policy in Gaza that is totally unacceptable. We still have the potential for escalating trade wars that could have major implications for Ireland and jobs across all economies. There is a crisis in international development as aid projects across the global south are threatened by massive cuts to aid and other countries have also reduced expenditure. There is the threat of global warming. Several countries have failed to meet their obligations under the Paris agreement. The most powerful economy in the world - the US - has withdrawn from the agreement altogether. With regard to the US Administration, we have enormous concerns, as I hope the Government does, regarding the intensified threats made by US President Trump towards Greenland. It is illogical and without any sense or reference to any framework. There is a Danish Government and a Greenlandic Government that are entirely open to dialogue, yet the US Government and President Trump seem to have an obsession with and fixation on the US acquiring Greenland for national security priorities. It is seriously alarming and should be seen in the context of a flagrant disregard for international law and sovereignty. That is very evident in the attack on Venezuela and the detention of President Maduro. These attacks were, in many respects, a naked power grab to gain control of commodities. The track record of the United States in attempting to force regime change by violence has been catastrophic for countries and entire regions. This latest intervention risks more death and suffering. It is not the place of western countries to force regime change and these attacks were quite clearly motivated by commodities. This is a naked power grab to gain control of Venezuelan oil. The US has, in effect, said as much. There are clearly many flaws in the Venezuelan Government, with Maduro and subsequently, and its respect for democracy. However, the democratic process needs to be respected by external actors, including the US, and the Venezuelan Government. Ultimately, the issue relates to sovereignty. John McTernan was head of communications for Tony Blair in that British Government and I note his comments during the course of what has happened. I do not think one has to have a particularly radical opinion to be appalled by what happened to President Maduro. His comment was that, "Most sensible people are sceptical of kidnapping foreign politicians you disagree with", and I think that is entirely right. A lot of this comes back to sovereignty. That is the concern that many countries around the world have at this moment in time. I know it is in the concern of the Mexican Government. I know it is the concern of the Danish Government. It is clearly the concern of the Colombian Government and Cuban Government also. Listening to some of the commentary, it was difficult to know what the Irish Government thought, to be truthful. It did not seem it particularly wanted to say what it thought. Ultimately, I encourage the Irish Government to speak out on behalf of sovereignty and that we have to respect the sovereignty of governments----- --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-14/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-14