People Before Profit TD, Richard Boyd Barrett has attacked the ratcheting up of ‘war talk’ over Ukraine.
‘Every day we get military leaders of NATO talking up the prospect of war on Ukraine. To the surprise of many in that country, they have withdrawn their diplomatic staff to signal that war is imminent.
‘We are supposed to believe that Europe is on the brink of its gravest crisis since the Second World War.
‘ In this situation that a neutral country would be make every effort to promote a peaceful solution. Yet Ireland is becoming an advocate of NATO.
‘Ireland made great play of its neutral status when campaigning for a seat on the UN Security council but this has all been dropped as it echoes the US line that NATO has a right to encircle Russia.
‘ Why is Simon Coveney not calling for an end to NATO expansion to the east -as well as denouncing Putin’s intimidation.
‘Why does he call for greater scrutiny on Iran’s nuclear ambition – while saying nothing about Israel’s
‘The political establishment are using the Ukraine crisis to undermine Irish neutrality. We should come out clearly against both NATO and Putin.