Latest news with #OireachtasCommitteeonForeignAffairs
RTÉ News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
US Ambassador to Israel official calls on Ireland to 'sober up' over OTB
The US Ambassador to Israel has criticised the Occupied Territories Bill, calling on Ireland to "sober up". The bill would prohibit trade between Ireland and Israel's illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It was scrutinised yesterday by the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and was introduced by Independent Senator Frances Black. Mike Huckabee described the bill as "so stupid" and questioned if it could be attributed to an act of "diplomatic intoxication". "Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness," he said in a post on social media platform X. Mr Huckabee said the bill, known as the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Bill, "will harm Arabs as much as Israelis". He urged Ireland to "call the Israel Foreign Ministry and say you're sorry!" His comments come after the bill was scruntinised at the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday during which former minister for justice Alan Shatter likened it to legislation passed in Germany in the 1930s. , and replicated the type of legislation initiated by the Nazis. However, Committee chair John Lahart of Fianna Fáil said that a claim made during the proceedings that the bill is anti-Semitic was "hugely hurtful and slanderous". Labour TD Duncan Smith said there was a failure to recognise that the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal. "That's a fundamental point of divergence," he said, adding Israel was "not the only example of Ireland deploying such a bill". In 2014, he said, an "identical bill was passed in Irish law prohibiting trade in goods and services with Russian-occupied Ukraine".
RTÉ News
03-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Taoiseach to attend Expo 25 following talks with Japan PM
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is attending Expo 25 in Osaka, Japan - a global exhibition of cutting-edge technology and industry which is expected to attract 28 million visitors over six months. 150 countries are participating in the Expo - with Ireland's multi-million euro pavilion focused on the theme that "Creativity Connects People." It comes as the Taoiseach and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held talks in Tokyo to discuss deepening trade links, bilateral relations and cybersecurity. Mr Martin said the Prime Minister was also aware of the challenges facing the Irish Government regarding its coastline, a reference to the fact that that around 75% of 550+ international subsea cables pass through or close to Irish waters. The overall theme for Expo 25 is 'Designing Future Society for Our Lives'. World exhibitions date back to 1851, have hosted the first demonstration of a telephone, the first live TV broadcast and produced such iconic buildings such as the Eiffel Tower. Expo 25 is being held on a dedicated 155-hectare site on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay. The entire exhibition is surrounded by an elevated circular walkway, the Grand Roof, with three districts inside it. Ireland's pavilion is located in the Empowering Lives section, and the multiple exhibits seek to demonstrate the potential that creativity has to empower people to solve global challenges. Irish participation in Expo 25 has cost more than €16 million over the past three years, with the pavilion itself accounting for nearly €7 million of that total. Tánaiste Simon Harris told the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs recently that joining Expo 25 provides "an excellent platform for public diplomacy for Ireland, because Ireland remains relatively unknown among the wider Japanese public." The design of the Irish pavilion, which is located near the main entrance, combines Irish timber with Japanese building materials in the form of an abstracted Celtic spiral, or triskele, the ancient Irish motif dating back to Neolithic times, and used at sacred sites, such as Newgrange. The pavilion is clad in Irish-grown Douglas fir timber, provided by Coillte, which the architects from the Office of Public Works say echoes the wood of the nearby Grand Roof, and evokes a connection between Irish and Japanese craft. Outside the pavilion is located a monumental sculpture conceptualised by Joseph Walsh and sits in a landscape designed by Hiroyuki Tsujii, the custodian of the Karasaki Pine Tree. On the walls of the pavilion VIP space, located on the first floor, are specially framed 'Kwaidan Project' prints. These are an Irish-Japanese cultural collaboration of prints & photographs by 40 Japanese and Irish artists, inspired by Lafcadio Hearn's masterpiece 'Kwaidan'.
Irish Post
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Post
Simon Harris to propose suspending trade with businesses within Occupied Palestinian Territories
SIMON HARRIS has said he plans to seek government approval to suspend trade with businesses within the occupied Palestinian territories. Mr Harris, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, also called for a full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which is the basis for the bloc's trade relations with Israel. In a video posted on Twitter/X, the Tánaiste said the world 'has not done nearly enough' as he condemned the blockade of aid into Gaza. 'It cannot be business as usual' Announcing his intention to have legislation passed to suspend Irish trade with the occupied Palestinian territories, Mr Harris stressed Ireland's support for the people of Gaza. "I welcome the fact that at a European level this week, finally the Irish view prevailed with a majority of member states saying that the Israeli-EU Association Agreement needs to be reviewed," he said. "In my view and the view of Ireland, it needs to be more than reviewed — it needs to be suspended because it cannot be business as usual while this is being carried out in Gaza. "Here at a domestic level in Ireland, we will now move forward with legislation in relation to suspending trade with the occupied Palestinian territories. "On Tuesday, I will seek a government decision in relation to that and I hope the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs can start scrutinising and considering that legislation in the month of June. "Please note that Ireland will continue to speak up and speak out and act both nationally and internationally to support international law, human rights and the people of Gaza at this most horrific time." An update on Gaza and my plans to bring forward legislation on the occupied territories, the need for aid, including Irish funded aid to immediately enter Gaza and the need for the European Union to suspend the association agreement between the EU and Israel. — Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) May 24, 2025 In his video, Mr Harris also condemned the Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel has allowed some aid trucks into the region since it eased its blockade this week, however, the UN says around 500 to 600 trucks a day are needed. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said what Israel had permitted amounted to a 'trickle of aid', with supplies from only 115 out of 400 trucks cleared for collection and distribution, while nothing has reached the besieged north. "We have the personnel, the distribution networks, the systems and community relationships in place to act," said Mr Guterres. "The supplies — 160,000 pallets, enough to fill nearly 9,000 trucks — are waiting. "This is my appeal for life-saving aid for the long-suffering people of Gaza: Let's do it right. And let's do it right away." 'Clear that war crimes are taking place' Echoing those words, the Tánaiste said people were starving while aid, including from Ireland, was ready and waiting to be delivered. "Like you I'm utterly sickened, appalled and repulsed at what we're seeing happening in Gaza," he said. "It's clear war crimes are taking place, it's clear genocidal activity is taking place, children are being starved, food is being used a weapon of war. "Thousands upon thousands of aid trucks are waiting in Jordan to get into Gaza and they can't because of an Israeli blockade now for more than 80 days. "Included in that is a number of trucks funded by you, the people of Ireland through Irish aid — trucks with enough food for over 6,000 people in Palestine that can't get in despite people starving today. "So, it's absolutely clear that the world has to act and the world has not done nearly enough. "We have been consistently calling for more to happen at an international level, to make the circumstances inevitable for a ceasefire, for the violence to end, for the hostages to be released, for humanitarian aid to flow at a really intense level and ultimately for a political process that can bring about a two-state solution. "Unfortunately, we seem further away from that than ever before." See More: António Guterres, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Simon Harris
