International Developments: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Roderic O'Gorman (GP), Dublin West

The title of this business, "International Developments: Statements", has the capacity to include many things. It could include the Irish Iranians whom I joined in demonstrating outside the Dáil earlier. They were protesting the bloody and brutal repression of protests on the part of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It could include the Palestinian protestors on the other side of the road, who were highlighting the ongoing killing of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank despite the existence of a ceasefire and the ongoing threat to the potential of a two-state solution created by the expansion of settlements. We can do something small but meaningful in that regard by passing Senator Frances Black's occupied territories Bill, including services, in full.
I will use the short amount of time I have today to speak about the situation in Greenland. We cannot overstate how serious the current situation is. The sabre rattling we are hearing from President Trump is very reminiscent of what we heard from Vladimir Putin in 2020 and 2021 in advance of the invasion of Ukraine. If the United States attempts to take Greenland against the stated wishes of the people of Greenland, it will shatter the relationship between Europe and the United States. It will spark an economic conflict that will leave both the US and the EU worse off. Greenland is not a piece of ice, as President Trump has described it. It is a sovereign territory with a long and proud history. It is important to say that history has involved working closely with the United States for many years.
On Monday, I wrote to the Taoiseach to ask that he, the Minister and Ministers of State in Deputy Byrne's Department brief Opposition leaders on the EU's response, the suspension of the EU-US trade deal, the threat of tariffs on eight countries and the potential use of the anti-coercion instrument. The Taoiseach has said he will do that. It would be useful for those briefings to take place so that we can understand. The Opposition was generally supportive during the tariffs crisis last year. People would like to understand the approach being adopted. Ireland has to use every relationship with the United States below Cabinet level to make changes to the US approach.

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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