The Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, has been accused of offering a defence for “brazen” breaches of international law after he refused to condemn US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Opposition parties charged him with “soft-pedalling” the Government’s approach to appease the US administration ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump later this month.
During Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described the strikes as “an act of aggression that threatens to set the entire Middle East ablaze”. She noted that a sovereign state had been bombed, its leader assassinated, and 185 innocent schoolgirls killed, arguing these were not defensive actions but actions of powerful states defying international law.
Mr Martin replied that Ireland favoured a multilateral, rules-based international order and called for immediate de-escalation. However, he said the multilateral order had been “dysfunctional” and the UN Security Council “paralysed” in holding repressive regimes to account, adding that Iran had been a “malign influence”. He also blamed Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel as a “disastrous catalyst” for regional instability.
Ms McDonald accused him of offering “a defence and a rationale for the indefensible” and noted that the strikes came while diplomatic negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme were reportedly making progress. Labour leader Ivana Bacik and Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also criticised Mr Martin, with Ms Bacik accusing him of “doublespeak” and “soft-pedalling” the national response for fear of upsetting Washington.
Mr Martin rejected the accusations, stating he was a multilateralist who believed in peaceful resolution to conflict. He also accused Sinn Féin of a “lack of clarity” for supporting US Republican Party and MAGA candidates, a claim met with objections from the party’s benches.
