International Developments: Statements Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21 ============================================================ Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown I greatly welcome the opportunity to briefly respond on aspects of this debate. It is a vitally important debate at, to be quite frank, an extremely delicate time in international politics, one that many people, in particular our Taoiseach have said, requires cool heads and very clear thought. It is also an opportunity to reassert absolutely and unconditionally Ireland’s commitment to the global rules-based order, multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, and of course the European Union, to which the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, will speak in more detail. I absolutely echo the comments by Deputy O'Callaghan in relation to our respect for international law. Ireland made it clear in relation to Venezuela and the actions there, that while Maduro was a dictator, his removal completely lacked any legitimacy and there are very serious concerns about how it was carried out. The way we respond to that is through the multilateral system. Points were made by Deputy Butterly in terms of the complete hollowing out of USA identity over the past 12 months and going on to the next 12 months, and the contagion of that being felt around the developing world, given the abandonment of that development system. We see that in effect in particular in Sudan, which Deputy Ward alluded to. Ireland is contributing €14 million through UN agencies, ensuring that aid gets to where it needs to. I will be quite frank, as Deputy Ward raised the question of whether aid is getting through. It is an extremely difficult and indeed volatile place. Deputy Brennan spoke about a number of areas, one being the ongoing situation in the Middle East. This has disappeared from the headlines, but was raised by a number of Deputies. Ireland continues to provide support, particularly for a number of UN agencies such as UNRWA. The Minister, Deputy McEntee was at the border crossing in Rafah just last week to announce greater commitments to the World Food Programme and others. Ireland has received an invitation from President Trump to join the board of peace. Only one country has turned down that invitation in Europe but it is something that requires reflection. We can all agree that as delicate as the ceasefire or lack thereof in Gaza is, and away from headlines, it is still crucially important. This gives me the opportunity to speak to two points. The first is trade diversification, which was raised by Deputy Ó Laoghaire, who, to his credit as ever, is still here. He raised this from a thoughtful point of view regarding how we look at opportunities afforded to us. This year, we hope to see the EU conclude trade deals with places like the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. We will see increased opportunities in places like Australia and other countries, all of particular interest to Irish exporters in the agrifood sector, but also in the tech and life sciences sectors and beyond. We are a Government that believes in rules-based international trade and in free and fair trade. I completely reject the assertions and some of the hyperbole from some of the Deputies present who if you were to listen to them, are running the European Parliament in their own sense, but I am not too sure if they could make their way to Strasbourg ordinarily. One point that was raised was that Ireland and the Taoiseach for some reason should not participate in the annual invitation to visit the White House or indeed engage in a full programme of the United States. This is an opportunity. As others have said, we have heard very important interventions from the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Finland in relation to a values-based system that Ireland has signed up to. There is also the sheer fact, to paraphrase Prime Minister Carney, that if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. Ireland has the responsibility to make itself present at the table and take every opportunity through European institutions and former Minister Byrne, multilateral institutions and on a bilateral level. Deputy Brennan is correct that we have a strong Irish diaspora in the United States. Next week, the Government will announce a full suite of St. Patrick’s Day trade missions involving Government Ministers and Oireachtas representatives and office holders like the Ceann Comhairle. Now is exactly the time when our Taoiseach should go to the White House and maintain that constant invitation. We do not just go when times are easy; we go when times are difficult too. Equally, we will see up to nine or ten Ministers go to 15 other US states and that ability to build relationships at a political and economic level is important. That is the responsibility we have now. --- 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