Michael McNamara
Member of the European Parliament · Renew · IE
“A Uachtaráin, is éacht pearsanta duit an lá seo, a Thaoisigh. Guím gach ádh ort agus go n-éirí leat. The success of the Irish Presidency will be built on long hours by countless Irish civil servants far from today's limelight and that of recent days, and I think we should remember their work and wish them success as well in their importan…”
“Included in that is EUR 135 000 for wool scarves to be of uniquely Irish artistic character, but not necessarily Irish wool. It's 30 degrees outside, Taoiseach. When it does cool down, everybody around here is well capable of buying their own scarves. 2-0121-0000”
“Mr President, as Ireland assumes the presidency of the European Union, I think it begs questions about what education system is required to be European and to serve that. It seems to me that two things are essential. The first is that we start teaching children European languages as early as possible in their education.”
“That hasn't happened and instead of getting closer to happening, it's getting further away. Teachers are being left to their own devices, not receiving the training and not receiving the resources.”
“Madam President, to mark the fact that Ireland will commence the implementation of the migration pact this week, but by saying that considerable efforts will be required to meet the obligations contained therein.”
“While much is made of the fact that the EU imposes an obligation upon Ireland, like every other Member State, to accommodate asylum seekers while they are in the process, little is made of the huge discrepancy in spending between the two.”
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“The European Union must suspend its trade association agreement now. And Germany – which, because it fuelled a genocide against Jews, now feels obliged to fuel another one – must end its arms shipments to Israel. 2-0575-0000”
“Mr President, Madam Kallas, every statement of the European Commission on Israel begins with its right to defend itself and the right of every state to defend itself. And of course, every state does have that right. But Israel is no longer involved in a defensive war against Hamas in Gaza; it is engaged in war crimes in Gaza. It is also seeking to emasculate the Palestinian people in the West Bank, while people's eyes are diverted to the horrors of what it is doing in Gaza. Israel's attack on Iran was not a defensive strike. It was an unlawful and unprovoked strike designed to subvert the negotiations that were taking place between Iran and the Trump Government. Madam Kallas, you rightly call for the respect of international law in Ukraine by Russia, but those calls are fatally undermined by your failure to do the same in Israel.”
“I say that is fundamentally misguided, and the reason that Ireland perhaps is so reluctant to comply with those laws is because it looks across the channel and it sees elderly people being prosecuted, it sees police increasingly tied up with looking at social media postings on the internet, instead of making neighbourhoods and communities safer. It is simply not working, and I would urge the Commission to revisit the approach that they are taking to hate speech laws, and indeed to Ireland. 1-0354-0000”
“Mr President, the aim of hate speech laws is, of course, to suppress division in society and to create social harmony. However, there is absolutely no evidence that they work. In fact, the effect of hate speech laws is exactly to the contrary: people resent the fact that they are threatened with prosecution for expressing their views. We now know that increasing proportions of populations across Europe are afraid to express their views, rightly or wrongly, but this does not affect how people think in any way, it just affects what they are afraid to say and what they resent. Nevertheless, it is proposed to initiate a prosecution against Ireland for failure to comply with European Union laws.”
“However, there is no evidence of any link between Pakistan and the heinous attack and, in the absence of such evidence, any attack by India and Pakistan, which is itself a frequent victim of terrorist attacks, would be unjustified. However, one cannot help but reflect on the benefits of democratically elected leaders speaking on behalf of their country rather than military men. In that regard, one might recall that when the Great Leader Jinnah outlined his vision of Pakistan in 1947, he spoke of no distinction between one community and another. 1-0231-0000”
“(start of speech off mic) ... I suppose the instability and unprecedented level of conflict in the world is such that when two of the world's greatest powers, two of the world's most populous nations, both nuclear armed, are squaring up and threatening each other, it barely receives a word here in the European Union, or indeed from this Parliament. I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the families of those slaughtered so savagely in Kashmir recently. But I think it is also important for this Parliament to call for restraint and dialogue. The speech of Pakistan's army chief, General Munir, to representatives of the diaspora a couple of days before the attack is viewed as inflammatory in India.”
“Clearly, we need to break the link between gas‑pricing and energy‑pricing, because that has resulted in energy prices remaining artificially high across Europe. But we can't wait for grid infrastructure. We do need to look at innovative solutions. Everybody across Europe is talking about the benefits of AI. At the same time, the same people are saying that we can't have data centres. Well, we can't have it both ways. We do need to look at whether data centres can be used to stabilise our grid in the short term, while we wait for our grid to be enhanced. 4-0132-0000 Catch-the-eye procedure 4-0133-0000”
“Mr President, I'm not here very long, but already I have the impression that this place operates like a bubble. I've listened to numerous speeches this week saying that the only thing that our citizens care about is defence. Colleagues, I do not believe for a moment that this Parliament will be judged on whether or not there are soldiers wearing the European Union insignia on their shoulder in five years' time. The success or failure of this Parliament will be judged on whether or not we bring down energy prices in Europe, and whether or not we provide energy stability and security across Europe. And the same is true, Commissioner, of your Commission, in my view. I do very much welcome the action plan that has been announced, though. Clearly, we need a huge investment in our infrastructure.”
“The silence of the European Union's chief diplomat on the slaughter of civilians – even if they were once protected by, or may even have supported, leaders that she doesn't like – is a failure on her part; one that lowers her and lowers the EU further on the world stage. 3-0586-0000”
“Mr President, I voted in favour of this resolution supporting a just transition and reconstruction in Syria today. The people of Syria have suffered for too long at the hands of a brutal dictator to have it replaced by an equally brutal regime. I acknowledge the suspension and revision of the sanctions regime, which – we must acknowledge – had little or no impact on Assad's reign and worsened the lives of the ordinary people of Syria, 90 % of whom now live in poverty. I look on with great dismay at the persecution and revenge killings of 1 225 civilians and members of the Alawite majority faith in recent days, and even greater dismay at the Commission's silence in the face of that killing.”