The protection of human rights, accountability, and compliance with international law are values that can never or will never be compromised by the Irish people, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has said.
In a significant speech on Ireland’s foreign policy, he said the Government backed “strong multilateral institutions with a strong United Nations at its heart, to meet the challenges of our century”.
He said it was “more important now than ever that countries like Ireland stand up for the values and ideals that the multilateral system embodies”.
Mr Harris said support for multilateralism “has been and will remain the cornerstone of our foreign policy”.
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But he said multilateralism was under ongoing, sustained and intense pressure.
Mr Harris said peace was “becoming ever more fragile, and must never be taken for granted”.
Speaking at the Global Ireland summit in Dublin Castle before an audience of top Irish diplomats based around the world, Mr Harris urged them to stand by the country’s values in challenging times.
He said there was a simple “values test” that could be easily applied – which is to “never whisper in 2025 what you have loudly proclaimed in 2024”.
The Tánaiste said that Ireland’s traditional military neutrality did not provide the country “with some sort of magic shield. It does not inherently insulate us from the impacts of a rapidly changing and volatile international security environment”.
“But being neutral does not mean shirking our responsibility, keeping the head down and hiding in the shadows and hoping for the best,” he said.
“We will continue to be militarily non-aligned. But that does not mean and will not meant that we don’t invest properly in defence capability, in knowing what happens above in our skies and below in our seas and keeping our people safe.”
Mr Harris said he was “deeply appalled and sickened” at Israel’s continuing blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
“We have reports from the world Food Programme that food supplies are running out, with famine now a real risk for many Gazans. Children are being left starving, and even dying, as we speak.
“We cannot and will not stand idly by and let this happen.”
Mr Harris said Ireland was calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the release of all remaining hostages and the immediate resumption of humanitarian assistance at scale into the throughout Gaza.
He described Hamas as “an illegal terrorist organisation” that offered the people of Gaza no prospect of a bright stable future.
He said Israel had to comply with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law.
“What we have heard in the last number of hours is utterly alarming. At a time when most of the world are calling for a cessation of violence, that the Israeli government would decide to expand its military operation is extraordinarily alarming and will no doubt result in further loss of life.”
Mr Harris said Ireland “remained convinced that the implementation of the two-State solution is the only way to establish lasting peace and security for both Israel and Palestine, and the wider region”.
The Minister also said that Ireland had been steadfast in its support for Ukraine following the illegal Russian invasion.
“We all want to see an end to this conflict and peace in Ukraine. But how we make peace matters. Any negotiation on the future of a country must have that country’s voice heard loud and clear.”
“Ukraine must be centrally involved in the negotiations. Quite frankly, there needs to be a clear European role as well.”
On Northern Ireland, Mr Harris said at present the relationships between Dublin, London and Belfast “are warm, and constructive, and have enormous potential.”
He said that “if the experience of the last few years tells us anything, it tells us that we cannot take this for granted. There is an onus on the Government to maximise this moment of political stability. ”
He said he would do everything possible to see whether agreement could be reached with the British Government on legacy issues.
“It is not easy, but it could not be more important. The thousands of victims and survivors of the Troubles on this island deserve nothing less,” he said.
