International Developments: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-06 ============================================================ Dee Ryan (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach The Minister of State is welcome. I thank him for giving us his time this afternoon in the Chamber. I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, on the comprehensive and informative update he gave us. I support the comments he made about disinformation and the cyber war that is going on at the moment, which we believe is predominantly propagated by Russian actors, who are minded to sow division in peaceful democracies such as ours and will use opportunities of internal conflict and protest to sow further seeds of disharmony. I would like to be associated with the Minister of State's comments in that regard. It is important we invest strongly in our cybersecurity and recognise that there are malicious actors who are trying to manipulate our domestic situation at times for their gain. I thank the Minister of State for the clear way in which he said that. I will speak predominantly about the situation in the Middle East and the gulf. As the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, said, we are living through a period of serious instability with devastating consequences, predominantly for the people who are living in those war zones with the life and death impacts they are experiencing. We are feeling the ripple effects of these conflicts around the world in energy prices and the knock-on impacts on inflation, right through to migration. It is a precarious time for international peace and security. Ireland remains deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond said. We continue to follow the developments closely. They are changing at pace. As it stands, reports are coming through that the US proposal for a peace deal has been delivered to the Iranians, who are reviewing it. They will give their response to Pakistan, which is acting as intermediary. The reports of that diplomatic engagement are welcome, as is the pause of the naval escort operations in the Strait of Hormuz President Trump announced yesterday. It is potentially a sign we are now moving into a space where diplomacy can actually make some progress. However, they are fragile steps. We hope the current pause in hostilities can be maintained and that talks can move towards a lasting agreement and a permanent political solution born from dialogue and diplomacy. Ireland has consistently called for restraint from all sides and for the protection of civilians at all times. International humanitarian law must be upheld without exception. The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has also highlighted once again just how vulnerable global energy supplies remain and, in these volatile times, how vulnerable the Irish energy supply is. We must accelerate our transition to green energy and, in particular, shake off the cautious approach we have been taking to harnessing green energy on the west coast using floating offshore wind, with the capacity we have to generate more than three times our current requirement for the country. We must move forward at a faster pace to harness that. We have to shift our focus and fast-track a plan to develop that on the west coast. At the moment, we are developing a plan to zone the seas around the coast from the southern region to the north. At the same time, we will just have to pull out the west coast. That is where the greatest amount of energy exists. We must fast-track a west coast plan for floating offshore wind energy generation. What the past few months and years have shown us is that Ireland's energy supply is very exposed to the whims of dictators and narcissists when they act in their own interests and casually upend global peace. I welcome Senator Kelleher's assessment of the ongoing and worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Families are without food, water, shelter and medical care and the suffering of civilians is intolerable. I join him in calling for Israel to immediately remove restrictions on aid access and to allow essential supplies and services to reach people across the Gaza Strip. Border crossings must remain open and humanitarian aid must not be obstructed. In particular, I echo his remarks on the strength of a Europe-wide response to the actions of Israel. Unfortunately, Israel is now also in Lebanon. While we could welcome the extension of the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, it is still very fragile. The situation on the ground is deeply concerning. Israeli forces remain in parts of southern Lebanon and tensions along the blue line continue. At the same time, the issue of Hezbollah's military activity and disarmament remains central to any lasting peace. Last week in Limerick, Irish Army troops gathered with their families and friends for a good luck and farewell event, which brought them all together as they prepared to go on the latest mission to Lebanon next week - I believe they will go in mid-May - to serve in difficult and uncertain circumstances. It was a moving occasion for the families. There were reports on local radio about the troops going out. They spoke about how much they were looking forward to it, and how they had either been previously or had heard about it from other officers. They spoke about the pride they had in going out there to be peacekeepers and how they expected to use their strong skills in communication and engagement to de-escalate where they can any threats of violence and to be the wonderful peacekeepers we are so proud of. We have a long legacy in Lebanon at Camp Shamrock of Irish troops contributing, not only in their peacekeeping efforts. I have spoken to many soldiers who spoke about teaching children English at the weekends or in their time off, so much so that we hear reports that some children speak English with a Cork accent in south Lebanon because of the work the Irish troops have put in. I take this opportunity to wish them well and to wish them a safe and successful tour in Lebanon. --- 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/seanad/2026-05-06/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-06