Micheál Martin pleads for major powers to help de-escalate Israel-Iran conflict
TAOISEACH Micheál Martin urged world powers to press for an urgent de-escalation of conflict in the Middle East as he warned the violence between Israel and Gaza, Lebanon and Iran was threatening to undermine the rules-based international order.
Mr Martin warned that the escalating conflicts were very dangerous and deeply worrying - and he said global powers had to work together to achieve an end to the horrors in the Middle East.
He acknowledged the United Nations had been undermined and its influence was waning before international eyes.
"It is deeply concerning that we have so much conflict in the Middle East," he said.
"It is dangerous in terms of its impact on civilian populations in the first instance. We see the horrors of Gaza - Syria is coming out of the embers of a horrible civil war.
"A new Government is installed there endeavouring to find and create some stability - we have instability and war in Lebanon, a new Government there trying to create stability and sustainable life for people in Lebanon.
"We have the appalling settlements in the West Bank.
"Iran should have engaged a long time ago on its nuclear programme and to dismantling it.
"But there has to be a return to a rules-based international order. At the moment it is receding before our very eyes. It is being eroded - the United Nations (UN) is being eroded and that is a matter of deep concern to us.
"We want to see a peaceful resolution to the conflict - we believe in dialogue and we believe in diplomacy. So we would say - to the world powers in particular - to use their influence and stop the hostilities to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages.
"And to get a huge surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza.
"Also to bring about a cessation (of violence) and to de-escalate between Iran and Israel."
Mr Martin urged Iran to engage with the international community over its nuclear programme and to help de-escalate tensions in the region.
"It is important that they would continue to engage but the context now may make that very difficult,' he said.
"They should have engaged, in my view, far more proactively in the past.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency called it out during the week - but equally they said the bombing of nuclear installations is hugely concerning. There is the risk of widespread potential death and destruction.
"The only sustainable way of ensuring peace is through dialogue and diplomacy, ultimately."
Mr Martin welcomed the release of People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy from custody in Egypt after he was detained when he attempted to join a Gaza peace march in Rafah.
Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris confirmed the release of Mr Murphy and a number of other Irish citizens on Friday evening.
Mr Harris had liaised with Irish diplomats in Cairo as well as the Egyptian authorities over the detentions.
"The situation is very fraught out there. Tensions are very high in Egypt and very high in Jordan. We believe people have an entitlement to peaceful protest and to engage in that," Mr Martin said.
"How realistic it was to try to go through Rafah is another question? Let's all be honest and realistic about that - it was never going to happen.
"I have been to Rafah myself - but when I was there as a Government minister there was a complex and a compound. That is all destroyed subsequently by the Israeli invasion.
"The security situation on both sides of that border is very, very tense and volatile. There are challenges to marching right up to the Rafah border.
"That said, people are entitled to peaceful protest and I am glad they have been released and we want their safe return - peaceful, legitimate protest is something that should always be facilitated by Governments."
Mr Murphy has had his passport returned to him by the Egyptian authorities but said his phone was still held.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Obituary: Carmencita Hederman, former lord mayor of Dublin, city councillor, senator and environmental campaigner
She was born Carmencita Cruess-Callaghan on October 23, 1939, into a family in Blackrock, Co Dublin, headed by bacteriological chemist Dr George Cruess-Callaghan and his wife Ita. Carmencita later studied at Trinity College Dublin. Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid had banned members of his Catholic congregation from attending TCD, but gave Carmencita a dispensation to enrol as a student there. French and Italian were among the subjects she took and she went on to acquire a Master's degree in July 1969. Earlier, in St Patrick's Church, Blackrock, on June 26, 1962, she married William (Billy) Hederman, a respected doctor and surgeon from Croom, Co Limerick, who served as president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 1990-92. The couple bought a house on Leeson Street while on honeymoon. In April 1968, when a draft city development plan proposed rezoning the area into office blocks, a letter of opposition she wrote to The Irish Times galvanised her neighbours and a group called Upper Leeson Street Area Residents Association was formed, which successfully campaigned to keep the zone for residential-use only. On June 22, 1987, she was elected lord mayor of Dublin, succeeding Bertie Ahern. Hederman garnered support from a 'rainbow coalition' of Fine Gael, Labour, Workers' Party, Progressive Democrats and three Independents, including the late Tony Gregory, and won by a single vote over Fianna Fáil's Ned Brennan, who was tipped as the favourite. The first woman to hold the post in 30 years, during her 12 months in office she played a leading role in Dublin's millennium celebrations of 1988, marking the takeover of the city by the Irish from the Vikings. She was a strong opponent of what she called 'destructive dual carriageways' in the city centre and their effect on inner-city communities. In August 1989, she was elected as an Independent member of Seanad Éireann on the Dublin University Panel along with Shane Ross and David Norris. She found it a difficult place to make significant progress on issues and did not stand in the next general election. Hederman was very interested in running as an Independent candidate for president of Ireland in 1990. Securing a nomination requires the support of at least four local councils or 20 members of the Oireachtas. She discussed the matter at an early stage with then-Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes, who was prepared to consider nominating her if she joined the party and ran as a Fine Gael candidate. 'She would have liked to be a candidate, but she wasn't prepared to adopt the party label,' he said last week. The party later nominated Austin Currie and the successful candidate was Mary Robinson. More recently, in light of events in Gaza, she supported the successful campaign for TCD to divest from Israeli organisations and academic institutions and companies operating in Occupied Palestine and on the United Nations' blacklist. She was a mother of five children and grandmother of nine. Her daughter, Wendy, was elected to Dublin City Council as a Progressive Democrat candidate for the Pembroke area in 2004. She was involved in key local issues, but retired from politics in 2007. Predeceased by her husband Billy in 2016, Carmencita Hederman passed away peacefully at the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook, on May 31.
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Irish Prison Service warns Department of Justice that prisons are overcrowded
The head of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) wrote to the department saying a garda decision to bring charges against individuals arriving in Ireland without valid passports was contributing to 'unsafe and unmanageable' levels of overcrowding in Irish jails. It is a criminal offence to arrive in this country without a valid travel document, punishable by up to 12 months in prison or a €3,000 fine. That penalty was introduced by the Immigration Act 2004, but it has only been rigorously enforced in recent times, following a crackdown once the numbers of people arriving here without documents began to rise. In a letter to a senior department official, released under the Freedom of Information Act, IPS director general Caron McCaffrey said that, in normal circumstances, low-risk offenders on short sentences were the first to be offered temporary release. She said this would normally include those in custody for immigration offences but the Department of Justice had made a deliberate policy decision to keep them in jail. Her letter stated: 'It will unfortunately necessitate the early release of more serious and high-risk offenders to make space in already overcrowded prisons, instead of offenders deemed to be low risk, from a reoffending and community safety perspective.' She said the IPS was heading into a 'catastrophic period' and numbers in custody were reaching new highs every day. The letter was sent in February 2024 but was withheld by the IPS under Freedom of Information laws until recent weeks. Ms McCaffrey also asked for urgent changes in the operation of temporary release and what type of criminals it could be applied to. She said that if changes were not made, there was the 'real potential to result in violent disorder within our prisons, threatening the safety and well-being of both our staff and those in our care.' She said they had exhausted all options around the temporary release of low-risk offenders and added that the department needed to look at temporary release for 'medium to high-risk sentenced offenders', which would have to apply to criminals including 'prolific' burglars and individuals convicted of assault on gardaí or peace officers. Ms McCaffrey called on the department to look at options for temporary release of sex offenders, especially those at low risk of offending. Under existing rules, sex offenders are ineligible for temporary release and no change has been made to this policy since the letter was sent. 'It is recognised that this is a difficult category due to the victim issues and the fact that people convicted of a sex offence pose a low risk of very serious harm, while other types of offenders pose a high risk of less serious harm,' she said. 'However, other categories being considered for temporary release as part of crisis measures pose a much greater risk to public safety.' She said this was particularly relevant for historic convictions and older sex offenders, some of whom were 'medically dependent' and actively engaging in rehabilitation. She also called for more flexibility around the use of open prisons for long-serving prisoners. Under existing rules, only those serving sentences of less than eight years could be transferred to an open centre such as Loughan House or Shelton Abbey, meaning spaces were not always being used in an optimal way. She called for a reduction in the number of people being remanded in custody, and said there was a particular need for a bail supervision scheme for female offenders, with the country's two women's prisons in Dublin and Limerick operating above capacity. She also asked that the department press ahead with its efforts to reopen the disused Curragh Prison in Co Kildare.
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Trump's anti-diversity measures blamed for Dublin Pride march withdrawals
Trump's attack on DEI has prompted several companies to pull sponsorships from Pride festivals, leading to funding difficulties at events around the world. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that three-quarters of more than 100 Pride organisers in the UK have seen a decline in corporate partnerships this year. According to Pride in London, withdrawals were particularly pronounced from American businesses. Jamie Kenny, co-CEO of Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride, said 'a small number of companies' had decided not to participate in this month's festival. This was partly due to the 'high values' the organisation expects from those joining the parade and the 'anti-DEI policies of the Trump administration". 'Thankfully, the vast majority of companies who join the parade each year have renewed their commitment to diversity and inclusion and will be with us on O'Connell Street at the end of June, and we've even seen a few Irish companies join us for the first time,' he said. 'While it's disappointing to see some companies withdraw from Pride, our focus will be on supporting workers who may up to now have had their connection to the community facilitated by their employers. We would like to send a clear message to any workers impacted that you are always welcome at Dublin Pride.' Kara McGann, head of skills and social policy at business lobby group Ibec, said she had not seen a rowing back on DEI policies or Pride. 'Overall, I'm really heartened that companies are staying the course,' she said. 'Maybe some, because of other constraints, are not doing it as publicly. 'DEI terminology was getting weaponised before the executive orders happened, so it was probably due for a reset. We are looking at this as an opportunity to say what was working well, what wasn't working well, how can we do better and how can we make sure everyone's voice is included in the conversation, because maybe we didn't do that as fully as we should have done previously.' Trump has consistently denounced DEI practices across the US, especially in government offices, claiming they were discriminatory. His efforts to curb DEI resulted in him issuing an executive order early in his presidency seeking to curb such policies in companies dealing with the federal government.
