{"id":75565,"date":"2024-05-20T15:38:34","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T14:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=75565"},"modified":"2024-05-20T15:38:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T14:38:34","slug":"ireland-knows-what-genocide-feels-like-and-how-long-the-impact-lasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2024\/05\/20\/ireland-knows-what-genocide-feels-like-and-how-long-the-impact-lasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland knows what genocide feels like – and how long the impact lasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National newspaper in Scotland, for whom I am a columnist, has reported today<\/a> that the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister), Simon Harris has said today that:<\/p>\n

I had a good conversation with the president of Israel. We had a firm and respectful conversation.<\/p>\n

It is my job as the Taoiseach of this country to speak up for the Irish position, to speak out on behalf of the people of Ireland.<\/p>\n

The Irish position in relation to the Middle East, in relation to Gaza, in relation to Israel is very straightforward and very consistent.<\/p>\n

We need to see an immediate cessation of violence, we need to see unimpeded and unhindered access to humanitarian aid because there is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in front of our eyes.<\/p>\n

We need to see a two state solution. In order to see a two state solution and to help bring one about you have to recognise the very existence of two states.<\/p>\n

In the coming days Ireland intends to do just that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I warmly welcome this news because I am quite sure he is right.<\/p>\n

He was most especially right to say this when attending an event to mark what many still call the Irish famine of 1845 to 1852.<\/p>\n

This was not, however, a famine. They are natural and unavoidable disasters. This was an avoidable crisis that London could have prevented by simply allowing Irish grown wheat to be used by those suffering as a result of the Irish potato harvests.<\/p>\n

But London did not allow that. It imposed a genocide that cost maybe a million lives and led to maybe another million emigrating in the short term and a great many more in the long term. The population of Ireland has still not recovered. And the history has not been forgotten.<\/p>\n

Ireland knows what it is like to be on the receiving end of a genocide. That is why it should be and is taking a leading role on Gaza now.<\/p>\n

I am proud to be an Irish citizen, as I have been for many decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National newspaper in Scotland, for whom I am a columnist, has reported today that the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister), Simon Harris has said today
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