International Developments: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (SF), Cork South-Central

I welcome the opportunity to speak about this issue. I am sure we are sitting here and an interesting or noteworthy speech - I am not sure which it is being called - is happening as we speak but I am unlikely to be the last person to reference Mark Carney's speech at Davos yesterday. It certainly caught the attention and perhaps a certain spirit of the time. Time will tell whether his perspective and strategy will be vindicated. There was much that sounded familiar to me. Much of the speech underlined points that Sinn Féin, among others, has been making for a long time, including the admission that, in truth, international law was more honoured in the breach than in the rule. He stated:
We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.
That rings very true to me. That is precisely what we talk about when we talk about the impunity with which Israel has prosecuted genocide against Palestine or the manner in which the US has trampled over international law in recent months. The phrase, "Saying the quiet bit out loud", comes to mind. It was also a very interesting contribution on the economic future of countries, whether middle powers or smaller countries such as ours, in a world dominated by two or three major powers, depending on how you see it. Mr. Carney further stated:
... recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.
He spoke about his approach, and, to state the obvious, Ireland is not Canada. The same strategies and perspective do not apply. It is, though, a clear-eyed assessment of the world in which we now live, and we must acknowledge it may not be an aberration. This may not be a pause and we may not return to the phase that existed before. President Trump threatens tariffs on European countries. He is currently in Davos. He is rhetorically tilting at windmills, a bit more like Don Quixote than Donald Trump. I have to say that, before I came into the Chamber, some of the language and rhetoric being used was remarkable and appears to resemble very little of reality. It has to be clear that bully-boy tactics can never be accepted from the United States or any international actors. They cannot be normalised. Threats to impose tariffs against European countries that would thwart his acquisition, and it is very much driven by him and his personal obsession, are scandalous.
Trade wars are bad for all, and, of course, if de-escalation is possible, we should grasp the opportunity. It is important to say that this could and should never become appeasement because clearly that will not work. Sovereignty has to be a red line. If the US is successful in these attempts, it will be a further and enormous blow to the concept of sovereignty, already very much undermined by recent actions, not to mention international law. European countries should be prepared to respond with resolve.
To be clear, the future of Greenland and its sovereignty must only be decided through the fulfilment of national self-determination by its people. This is a crucial test of respect for sovereignty. If it is conceded here, then it will become all the weaker elsewhere. Whatever transpires, it does seem that tariffs and trade wars may very much be back on the agenda. I have said it previously, and it underlines all the further something Sinn Féin has been saying for many years, that there is no question but that Ireland is disproportionately vulnerable in the context of an escalating trade war between the United States and the European Union. The fact is that the industrial policy of recent, successive Governments and our failure to develop a strong enough indigenous sector to complement our strong foreign direct investment sector, as well as diversifying in terms of markets and exports, has left us uniquely vulnerable. This has not been helped by reliance on taxation incentives and various taxation loopholes that have in the past allowed some commentators to portray us a tax haven.
Successive Governments have failed to build the infrastructure we need to attract and hold on to foreign direct investment without relying on tax incentives. It is evident that the position of the US Government is liable to change at various times and threats may or may not come to pass. Clearly, Europe should not give in to bully-boy tactics. It is high time that Ireland consider more broadly its place in the world's economy. It must find its insurance and mitigate risk.
A number of things are required from the Irish Government. The Government must begin a plan for diversifying in terms of markets we trade with, with a view to future trade missions. The United States, Britain and Europe will always be crucial trading partners for reasons of language, culture and long ad deep relationships but there is a potential to deepen trade with other countries in southeast Asia, emerging markets and other countries that have faced challenges in terms of tariffs such as Canada and Mexico. The Government must prepare and immediately begin preparation for supports for our businesses in the event of tariffs coming into place, whether this resembles some of the supports that took place for Brexit or building on the learnings of it. It needs to be developed. We need to make sure it is easily accessible and widely promoted. This needs to involve education, training support, marketing support and, potentially, grant aid. The development of this programme needs to begin now so that it is ready to roll out in the event that it is required.
The Government also needs to prioritise investment in our infrastructure. The reality is that one of the reasons we are so vulnerable is because of the huge gaps in our infrastructure. Our housing system is in crisis. We do not have a motorway between the second and third largest cities in the State. Public transport is inadequate and our electric grid is so inadequate that we are losing potential investment. Trade wars are bad for everyone but nothing can be taken for granted. In my view, successive Governments have left us uniquely vulnerable.
There is an Administration in the United States that has totally departed from the norms of international politics and shaken up its relationships with its allies. I want to again make the point that we extend our solidarity with the people of Ukraine who have stood courageously against a brutal Russian onslaught and criminal invasion by Vladimir Putin. It must be the case that any negotiations regarding the future of Ukraine should have Ukraine at the table. That is the only way that we will see a meaningful, successful and viable peaceful settlement for the people of Ukraine and for humanity.
I was really surprised and extremely disappointed that the Minister had 20 minutes to speak but did not use all of it and that not once was the situation in Sudan mentioned. It is the largest humanitarian situation in the world. A total of 33 million people may potentially be in a situation facing deprivation and hunger. There was potentially one of the largest slaughters we have seen in this century in El Fasher. Some estimates are suggesting that maybe as many as 100,000 were killed. It is certainly in the tens of thousands. This is a kind of scale of killing that we have not seen in many years in such a short period. There are 4 million Sudanese refugees in Chad and South Sudan. It is a conflict that has been going on for many years but certainly in this period for the past three years.
I am concerned that a bit like other conflicts, Europe and, to some extent, Ireland are not speaking out forcefully enough. They do have leverage. One of the key actors in this is the United Arab Emirates, which is facilitating a flow of large-scale and sophisticated weaponry. Because of the close relations that Ireland and the European Union have with the United Arab Emirates, it is not being called out. This Government will hold the EU Presidency in the next six months. It needs to take every opportunity. In my view, this conflict is going to continue to escalate until the United States and the European Union make it enough of a priority. Both parties to the conflict believe they can win. I know that Ireland, in relative terms, is a small country but this is an appalling scale of slaughter, a humanitarian situation of displacement that needs to be addressed. The Government and Ireland need to take every opportunity it can.
A recent piece in The New York Times by Nicholas Kristof stated that Nathanial Raymond's estimation that the number of people killed in six weeks of fighting, amounted to "a pace of killing [that] would be unrivaled since the Rwanda genocide of 1994", adding that "death toll in El Fasher in less than two months may be comparable to that in Gaza [in] two years".
In the time I have left, I acknowledge the situation in Palestine. The killings and attacks by settlers on people in the West Bank continues apace. Again, it comes back to international law. If international law is going to be applied selectively, people such as the Palestinians too often are forgotten. I raise the proposed peace plan. The Minister has acknowledged it. To say it is a flawed peace plan is to say the least but even what the US has been talking about goes far beyond that. The space for self-determination for the Palestinian people is narrowing. Ireland needs to take the actions that it can and use what leverage it has, including the occupied territories Bill, to increase pressure. The fundamental basis of that legislation is about respect for international law.
I condemn the violence and repression we have seen against protestors in Iran. The reports of thousands of deaths during these protests are absolutely shocking. We express our condemnation of violence, whether against protestors or others, and call on the Iranian Government to respect the rights of protestors to demonstrate for their fundamental rights.

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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/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21