President Higgins says UN Security Council failing as Gaza suffers ‘forced starvation'; thousands march in Dublin protest
He quoted UN Secretary General António Guterres, who said: 'As aid dries up, the floodgates of horror have re-opened... Gaza is a killing field – and civilians are in an endless death loop.'
He said the Irish Government is asking EU member states to work to avoid what will be 'a massive loss of life' in Gaza.
He added that aid trucks carrying vital food, medicine and water are currently blocked at 'three entry points to Gaza', including two Irish aid trucks.
This comes as thousands of people marched in the streets of Dublin this afternoon to call for action against the Israeli bombing of Gaza by the Irish government.
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign organised the 'end the genocide' rally in Dublin and called for sanctions against Israel.
During his speech, Mr Higgins called on the UN General Assembly to act when the Security Council 'fails' to deal with current famines.
'When the Security Council fails us as it does again and again, in responding to what I have been describing as the current conditions, we must return to the exceptional measures that are available to us that I remember discussing at the time of the Iraq war, that are available from the General Assembly,' he said.
"The General Assembly must speak and act if in fact the Security Council refuses to deal with the terrible famines that are now facing us in those parts of the world."
Speaking at the event in Co Limerick, Mr Higgins said the recurrence of famine is 'a great human failure' as he said people in Yemen and Sudan also suffer 'hunger and famine created by conflict'.
He said the collapse humanitarian aid and assistance has left a significantly reduced humanitarian capacity.
He said the Horn of Africa has experienced 'devastating hunger' three times in three decades, adding; 'On each occasion, the world said 'never again' when details of the famine were reported to the United Nations. Yet, each time, famine has returned.'
He said the world is 'witnessing dangerous breaches and challenges to human rights around the world – be it in the plight of those enduring the horrific consequences of avoidable war and conflict, including food insecurity, the reappearance of old hatreds and the arrival of new forms of the scourges of hatred, racism and intolerance'.
Mr Higgins said National Famine Commemoration Day is a 'a solemn opportunity for the people of this island to reflect on and recall those who perished, the suffering and loss experienced by our Irish people in that cataclysmic period in our history to which we refer to as An Gorta Mór'.
"No other event in our history can be likened to the Great Famine for its immediate tragic impact, or its role in creating a massive increase in desperate and involuntary emigration, cultural loss, increased decline of the Irish language, and a general demoralisation of Irish shared life,' he said.
Over one million people died during the famine and over two million emigrated between 1845 and 1852, with a commemoration event today featuring a wreath-laying ceremony and other tributes to those who died.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
University of Galway defends new non-Irish speaking president amid Sinn Féin ‘step backwards' claims
Today at 11:42 The University of Galway has defended its newly appointed president after the Sinn Féin spokesperson for Gaeilge said the university had taken a 'step backwards' by hiring a president with no Irish. Sinn Féin spokesperson for Gaeilge Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD wrote to the newly appointed president of University of Galway, Professor David J Burn and the chairperson of Údarás na hOllscoile, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, seeking an urgent meeting to discuss the status of Irish in the university in the wake of the decision.
The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
Ex-SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says he rejected a knighthood ... using 'strong language'
FORMER SDLP LEADER and possible Irish presidential candidate Colum Eastwood said he rejected an offer for a knighthood from Westminster using 'strong language'. Speaking on BBC NI's Red Lines podcast with Mark Carruthers, the former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader said a politician in Westminster extended the honour to him. 'I looked at the person and used language that I can't use in this podcast and said: 'Do you know who it is you're talking to?' 'People in the political establishment in London don't really understand the North, ' he said. The Foyle MP, who resigned as SDLP party leader last October, said the politician then asked him he if he would like to join the privy council, but he declined that offer too. The privy council is the formal advisory body to the monarch, privy counsellors advise the King on exercising the Royal Prerogative, which is the executive power of the monarch to make decisions such as declaring war. 'I said: 'I tell you what, the Budget's coming up, throw in a few quid for Derry from that Towns Fund and that'll do alright,' Eastwood said. 'So we got £20m for Derry as part of that conversation.' He described Westminster as 'bonkers' for 'going around offering people gongs to thank them or buy them in'. Advertisement 'As someone who doesn't want Westminster to even be running Northern Ireland I have absolutely no interest in any kind of gongs from any British government, I was happier with £20m for Derry.' The SDLP is a social democratic and Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland. Their main aim is to join the North and South of Ireland using non-violent means and create a new Ireland. The party was formed in 1970, and led by John Hume from 1979 to 2001. It has previously been reported by the BBC that Eastwood is considering a bid for Áras an Uachtaráin . When asked by Carruthers about a potential candidacy, Eastwood said: 'The most important thing for me is to have a conversation about Irish unity as part of that presidential election'. Eastwood said a 'number of people from different political parties' have spoken to him about running in the election, but he has not yet made a decision on the matter. The Journal previously reported that Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he is not aware of any engagement with Eastwood over becoming the party's candidate for the Irish presidency. When Carruthers put this to him, Eastwood said: 'He should be surprised because we hadn't talked about it'. He said that although he had spoken to 'credible' people within different political parties in the Republic, he had not spoken to Fianna Fáil leadership at the time. The Foyle MP believes there will be a united Ireland 'a lot sooner than people think', and the Irish presidency would be useful in reaching this end. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
At least 25 killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid, say health officials
Israeli gunfire killed at least 25 people seeking aid on Wednesday, health officials and witnesses said, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will 'allow' Palestinians to leave during an upcoming military offensive in Gaza. Mr Netanyahu wants to realise US President Donald Trump's vision of relocating much of Gaza's population of more than two million people through what the prime minister refers to as 'voluntary migration' – and what critics have warned could be ethnic cleansing. 'Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want,' Mr Netanyahu said in an interview aired on Tuesday with i24, an Israeli TV station, to discuss the planned offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas including Gaza City. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP) 'We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave.' Witnesses and staff at Nasser and Awda hospitals, which received the bodies, said people were killed on their way to aid distribution sites and while awaiting convoys entering the Gaza Strip. Israel did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Efforts to revive ceasefire talks have resumed after apparently breaking down last month. Hamas and Egyptian officials were set to meet on Wednesday to discuss efforts to stop the war, according to Hamas official Taher al-Nounou. Israel has no plans to send its negotiating team to talks in Cairo, the prime minister's office said. Israel has said it will widen its military offensive against Hamas to the areas of Gaza that it does not yet control, where most of the territory's residents have sought refuge. Those plans have sparked international condemnation and criticism within Israel, and could be intended to raise pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire. Israeli soldiers use binoculars to look at damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip, from southern Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP) The militants still hold 50 hostages taken in the October 7 2023 attack that sparked the war. Israel believes around 20 of them are alive. Mr Netanyahu was asked by i24 News if the window had closed on a partial ceasefire deal and he responded that he wanted all of the hostages back, alive and dead. Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Cairo is still trying to advance an earlier proposal for an initial 60-day ceasefire, the release of some hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid before further talks on a lasting truce. Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal but says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group has refused to lay down its arms as Israel has demanded. Israel and South Sudan are in talks about relocating Palestinians to the war-torn East African nation, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Tuesday. The office of Israel's deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel said on Wednesday that she was arriving in South Sudan for a series of meetings in the first visit by a senior government official to the country, but she did not plan to broach the subject of moving Palestinians. Damaged humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza scattered on the ground next to the border with the Gaza Strip near the Kissufim crossing in southern Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP) In a statement on Wednesday, South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called reports that it was engaging in discussions with Israel about resettling Palestinians baseless. The AP previously reported that US and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for moving Palestinians uprooted from Gaza. Among those killed while seeking aid on Wednesday were 14 Palestinians in the Teina area approximately 3km away from a food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to staff at Nasser hospital. Hashim Shamalah, who was trying to reach the sites, said Israeli troops fired towards them as people tried to get through. Many were shot and fell while fleeing, he said. Five other Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while trying to reach another GHF distribution site in the Netzarim corridor area, according to Awda hospital and witnesses. The US and Israel support the GHF, an American contractor, as an alternative to the United Nations, which they say allows Hamas to siphon off aid. The UN, which has delivered aid throughout Gaza for decades when conditions allow, denies the allegations. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza move along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP) The GHF said there were no incidents at or near its sites on Wednesday. There are aid convoys from other groups that travel within 100 metres (328ft) of GHF sites and draw large crowds attempting to loot them. An overwhelming majority of violent incidents over the past few weeks have been related to those other aid convoys, the organisation said, noting it has provided more than one million meals to aid seekers. At least six other people were killed by Israeli fire waiting for aid trucks close to the Morag corridor, which separates parts of southern Gaza, Nasser hospital said. The UN and food security experts have warned starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday reported the warning from the World Food Programme and said the Gaza Health Ministry told UN staff in Gaza that five people died over the previous 24 hours from malnutrition and starvation. Gaza's Health Ministry says 106 children have died of malnutrition-related causes during the war and 129 adults have died since late June when the ministry started to count deaths among this age group. The UN and its humanitarian partners are doing everything possible to bring aid into Gaza, Mr Dujarric said, but still face significant delays and impediments from Israeli authorities who prevent the delivery of food and other essentials at the scale needed. A Palestinian boy after collecting water from a distribution point in Gaza City (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the 2023 attack. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's air and ground offensive has since displaced most of Gaza's population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory towards famine. The offensive has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
