Europe Day: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-07
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Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel

I cite two challenges for Europe. There is an obvious challenge with the war of aggression from Russia to Ukraine and the problems on our eastern flank. It presents problems for Europe, and it presents fundamental questions for Ireland. We are a neutral country. We are proud of that neutrality and want to maintain it. We have to use our moral force as a neutral country to achieve peace and proper values, etc. There is no escaping that we will have to be part of peacekeeping forces. We will have to be part of an effort to prevent cybercrime. We will have to be part of the solution and the maintenance of a strong Europe, not in the military sense but in the sense of being peacekeepers, supporters and being active in and working and collaborating to avoid cybercrime. The challenge on the eastern flank is unavoidable and needs to be addressed on Europe Day. The Minister of State might address it in his response.
The other challenge is the Chinese economy and the growing strength of China. There is nothing inherently wrong with China growing economically. We can work with that, but we have to insist on human rights in China and on proper non-exploitative labour practices and try to assist to achieve values in that sense as a trading partner. We can be in no way complicit in supporting, even if it has a short-term gain in terms of the consumer price index, products that are based on human exploitation and slavery or a modern day version of it. That is a second challenge that needs addressing or talking about on Europe Day.
We should celebrate Europe Day. The Eurobarometer indicates that Ireland is a pro-European society. We look forward excitedly to our Presidency and I am sure the Minister of State will comment at the end on how we visualise that Presidency, our vision for Europe and what change we might try to effect. That is an exciting vista. Europe is great for us. It is good to be part of it. We cannot live in isolation from the world. We need to be part of that while maintaining our identity and important culture. It is good for us economically, socially and in every way, but we have to face two big challenges. There is the existential threat presented on the eastern flank and the rise of China. I would be interested in the Minister of State's response.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-07