Following the election of a new Speaker to chair meetings of the chamber and a variety of speeches, it adjourned to facilitate continuing discussions about the formation of a new coalition government
Both Ireland’s outgoing Prime Minister, Simon Harris and its outgoing Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister, Micheal Martin, singled out Israel for demonization when speaking
Harris accused Israel of “engaging in the most amoral and brutal onslaught of innocent people and terrified children” and Martin of engaging “in the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”
Neither complicated their narrative by mentioning any other aspect of the ongoing conflict, such as 1. hostages still held captive in Gaza, 2. missiles still targeting Israel, 3. firefights between Hamas and the IDF 4. Hamas’s objective to resume its brutal rule of Gaza 5. and promise to repeat its October 7 atrocities 6. nor spoke of any other foreign affairs issue
While Martin at least criticized Hamas for “ terrorizing their own people” and committing “terrible acts” no criticism of Hamas featured in Harris’s inflammatory commentary
Neither had anything to say about, 1. Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis 2. the extraordinary events in Syria since Ireland’s election took place 3. the catastrophic famine in Sudan 4. nor the Russia/ Ukraine war
