International Developments: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-06 ============================================================ Chris Andrews (SF), Labour Panel Cork city or county. In recent years, the world has become an increasingly unstable and chaotic place with differences between states being settled by force rather than diplomacy. Since the Second World War, and particularly since the end of the Cold War, there has been a common narrative that world politics is governed by a set of rules and established values. There was a system of international institutions and laws that would mediate between states and show respect for all, regardless of power or military strength, although this was never the case for Third World countries, which continue to be subjected to sickening levels of violence and exploitation. With Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Israel's genocide in Gaza and Trump's lunatic, erratic second term, this narrative has gone completely out the window and we are in a new era of geopolitics that is reminiscent of the 1930s. The threat of a third world war is possibly now closer than ever before. The regime in the United States has departed from the norms of international politics and seems happy to attack sovereign states without provocation or justification, or even a coherent war goal. There is a major war in Europe as a result of Putin's invasion and rapidly increasing militarisation in the EU as a result. There is an ongoing genocide, with Israel torturing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and continuing to do so. It killed thousands of people, which exposed the hypocrisy of western states that claim to believe in human rights while at the same time supporting Israel's war machine without hesitation. We do not have to look any further than Ursula von der Leyen and her strong and unwavering support for Israel. It is absolutely sickening. The polling around attitudes to Europe shows a downward direction in many areas and that is due to Ursula von der Leyen and many of her colleagues. All of this has completely undermined the legitimacy of international law and destroyed any sense of a global consensus for peace. These are very volatile times. Now more than ever, Ireland needs to stand firm on our neutrality and avoid becoming entangled in a potential large-scale war. Our place is not as part of a military alliance or military adventurism. We should use our independent voice, our soft power, as Senator Kelleher mentioned, to stand up for human rights, international law and the multilateral institutions that are under attack. Despite our small size, we have a considerable international profile and wide-reaching respect. This is due to our willingness to call out human rights abuses and the work of our peacekeepers and aid workers, as well as our diplomats who do a fine job. It is also a result of our history of resistance to colonialism. We should not risk our reputation by abandoning our neutrality on a whim. We should use our voice to speak out against injustice. Nowhere is that more important today than in Palestine. The actions of Israel have been absolutely horrific and criminal, yet the EU will not take any action to hold it to account. It is beyond understanding how the Government speaks about suspending the trade pact with Israel and says it will pass the occupied territories Bill. That appears to be posturing from the Government because it knows Europe will not suspend the EuroMed agreement. It knows it is safe to come out with words that sound good and appeal to people, but the reality is there will be no action on that. It is the same with the occupied territories Bill. The Government has kicked that can down the road many times. The Government has said how concerned it is about the actions of Israel, yet it welcomes Israel here to play football and facilitates the sportswashing of football by Israel. It is hard to understand how Ireland can be so spineless. The Government is spineless when it comes to taking action against Israel. Violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank is the worst it has ever been, with constant attacks on Palestinians by settlers and the Israeli state, not to mention the blatantly racist law passed by the Knesset which greenlights the death penalty for Palestinians. Ben-Givr, the psychopath minister for security, pushed that agenda. Israel is still illegally detaining two participants in the most recent Global Sumud Flotilla, Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek, who are decent and kind people committed to human rights, delivering aid and standing up against the destruction of international law. They are people who are committed and trying to do something and take action, which is something the Government has failed to do time and again. Irish Sport for Palestine has a number of high-profile sportspeople. Pico Lopes, who will play in the World Cup this summer, Sean Boyd, Brendan Clarke and Dean Williams have all said that Ireland playing Israel is wrong. It is, in effect, sportswashing. I have a specific question because there will be a lot of talk. Has the Government requested that the FAI play that game? Whose decision is it to play the game? Is it the decision of the Government to allow that game to be played or is it the decision of the FAI alone? If the game goes ahead on 4 October, who will security screen the participants, supporters, management team and entourage that comes with the genocidal Israeli team? It is not clear. The Government has not given any answers. It will be during the EU Presidency and there will be a lot of pressure on the Government in terms of policing resources. A young lad, Muhammad Khalifa, played all around Ireland in 2017. His murderers could be on that team. Will the Government let them arrive in and leave Ireland and enjoy football or will it hold the team to account? Will it security screen them? We need to know the plans the Government has or whether it is ad-libbing it and will allow the Israelis come and go as they wish, even though they blocked visas for GAA Palestine participants. I would like clarity on those direct questions. --- 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