International Developments: Statements Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21 ============================================================ Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal This debate is happening in parallel with the World Economic Forum - a get-together where the political elite meet with billionaires in the Swiss Alps. Far removed from the lives of ordinary people, they meet to discuss the world's problems. Billionaires solving the world's problems is like Jack the Ripper trying to solve crime. Trump, another billionaire, spoke at Davos earlier today. Let us be clear: the US has been an aggressive international actor for decades. That is a fact. There have been covert operations, direct military intervention and support for violent regimes. The trail of destruction did not begin with Trump. The US has projected economic and military power for as long as I can remember, but now that greedy eye has turned on an EU member state and Greenland. Now Europe is at the sharp end of US economic coercion. This needs to be a wake-up call across Europe and here at home in Ireland. The job of government is always to stand up for Ireland's interests. Our interests lie in a world where national sovereignty is respected, whether that is in the Middle East, South America or Europe. Our interest lies in a world where international law is adhered to. It is hard to have any hope for international law after we witnessed what happened in Gaza. Now the perpetrator of that genocide, Netanyahu, is being invited to join the so-called "Board of Peace". That is the warped world view we are dealing with when we are negotiating with the US. Diplomacy is always the answer, but diplomacy does not mean appeasement. While power politics is making a return, this Government is pressing ahead with dismantling the triple lock, the core safeguard that anchors Irish neutrality, democratic oversight and United Nations authority. The triple lock is not an inconvenience; it is the clearest expression of Ireland's belief that small states rely on law, not force, and that Irish troops are deployed overseas only when democratic consent and clear UN authorisation exists. At the very moment when the UN is being sidelined, ignored or bypassed across the globe, this Government's response is not to defend it, but to weaken Ireland's reliance on it. In a world that is fundamentally changed, this is not realism. It is an outdated and dangerously complacent foreign policy mindset rooted in the belief that Ireland's safest course is silence, compliance and never saying "No" to Washington. That way of operating was never a good idea, but now it is completely untenable. I will finish on this point, a Cheann Comhairle. Since the financial crisis we have seen and witnessed a decade of austerity - the lost decade. Now we are halfway through the squandered decade, with all the money and nothing to show for it. Our destiny is in our own hands. International turmoil should be a warning to get our house in order, not another excuse for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to hide behind. --- 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