International Developments: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Martin Daly (FF), Roscommon-Galway

As a small country we are living in a time of flux and realignment. Because of our size and open trading economy we have to, as we have in the past, be prepared to navigate uncertain times. If we ever needed reminding, we need to use our position in the European Union to negotiate with a block that has heft and power in an age where it appears might equals right and supersedes international law. Those who say our foreign policy should be solely values driven are out of touch. As a small trading nation, we need to prosecute a foreign policy that is in our national interests if we are to maintain living standards and services. In a world where large political blocs seem determined to carve up spheres of influence and control we have to operate through the European Union. To do anything else would be foolhardy in the extreme. Canadian Prime Minister Carney has identified and pointed the way in this regard. He has alluded to the weaponisation of coercive economic integration, tariffs, financial services and supply chains. Canada is not Ireland. It is bigger, richer and has natural resources, but it has depended on the benign integration of the majority of its trade with its southern neighbour. Since that threat came 12 months ago, Prime Minister Carney has responded deftly with a committed 1 trillion Canadian dollars in trade diversification and resilience measures like new east-west ports, new east-west rail infrastructure and the purchase of defence technology from Sweden that gives them control and autonomy over its use rather than continued dependence on the US. It is prepared to develop new markets in Europe and Asia. We have to learn from this example. We have been talking for years about developing indigenous industry, and this Government has been investing in research and development. That is not say we should not continue to keep our communications to our allies and friends in the US open when productive and in the event of change of policy after the mid-term elections. However, it appears the world has changed, and we should not depend on it going back to the way it was. We have seen the supply chain disruptions caused by Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine and a sense that the US has disengaged from its long-standing commitment to the security of Europe. While Europe has already woken from that complacency we in Ireland will have to re-evaluate our own commitment to our own security, irrespective of our military neutrality. We have been supported from the EU in the development of a modern, sophisticated State with full employment, and during the financial crash and Brexit. We owe solidarity to the smaller countries of the Union that, like ourselves, depend on operating through a large bloc.

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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