Micheál Martin: People on the doors 'appreciate' Government's response to Israel's war on Gaza
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Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said many people on the doors "appreciate" the Government's response to Israel's war on Gaza.
It comes as Oxfam Ireland chief executive Jim Clarken has called for Gaza to be a central issue for all political parties in the general election campaign.
Mr Clarken described the ongoing atrocities in Gaza as “a campaign of ethnic cleansing”, with the humanitarian situation now at the worst point since hostilities began more than a year ago.
Asked if he thinks the failure to pass the Occupied Territories Bill in the last Dáil will cost his party votes, Mr Martin said the coalition had done "more than any government in Europe" to highlight the atrocities being committed against Palestinian people.
"Many people on the doors actually appreciate the role and the approach we have taken in respect of this issue.
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"Not everybody would agree with government, there will always be people who want to do more.
"That's understandable, that's a democracy I understand that.
"Above all, there's unanimity in Ireland in terms of the horrors of the war and the atrocities that have been committed and the war crimes that are being committed.
"We are doing everything, politically, diplomatically, legally, at every level, EU and UN to highlight the issues to call from immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, and sustained surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza."
He said the Occupied Territories Bill will be amended with officials already working on it and will be passed in the new Dáil as it "indicates Ireland's opposition to what's happening and also our affirmation of the illegality of the occupation of Palestine territories".
"I think the Government has done more than I would say, any government in Europe in terms of identifying the key issues in relation to Palestine, along with Spain, not only in terms of recognition of the State of Palestine; our steadfast support of Unrwa when a lot of countries were pulling their support from Unwra at the time of the allegations that were made against it; but also in terms of how we have steadfastly, very diligently, sought accountability for war crimes and for the illegality of the occupation through our promotion of the case that was taken before the International Court of Justice, which led to the advisory opinion."
He said while some have been engaging in "sound bites" on the issue, the work being progressed by the outgoing government as part of the contribution to the genocide case taken by South Africa is of "substance".
"We're filing our intervention, which would be very interesting, because I think we want to try and broaden the definition under the Genocide Convention as to what constitutes genocide, particularly around the area of denial of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the collective punishment of the people, of Palestinian people more generally," he said.
Mr Martin attended the annual Irish Journalism Awards in Dublin, where campaigners took part in a silent protest outside to honour the 188 journalists who have been murdered in Gaza since October 7.
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste has continued to defend Fianna Fáil's proposal to decriminalise drugs after one of his own party candidates expressed "mixed feelings" on the cannabis plan.
Dr Martin Daly, a GP standing for Fianna Fáil in Roscommon-Galway, said: "One of the concerns I have about it is some of the new stronger forms of hashish are leading to serious mental health problems in our younger people.
"There certainly is a while criminal industry that has grown up around the supply of drugs."
Fine Gael's deputy leader Helen McEntee also took aim at Fianna Fáil’s policy, saying that it appeared to be a “blanket decriminalisation” as the manifesto was not specific.
“Are we talking about heroin, are we talking about crack cocaine, are we talking about other kinds of drugs,” Ms McEntee said.
Ms McEntee said that Gardaí do not believe decriminalisation is the right approach to take.
Fianna Fáil has clarified that the measure would only relate to cannabis and not harder drugs.