Government accused of 'disgusting hypocrisy' on Iraq

Ms Liz O'Donnell (PD, Dublin South) said she believed that many Irish people were "shattered and deeply conflicted" by the Iraqi war.

"This stems from the fact that notwithstanding great diplomatic efforts, international consensus at the UN was not achievable, and we now have a war whose legality is disputed by many. It has divided Europe, NATO and even the British parliament."

Ms O'Donnell, a former minister of state for foreign affairs, said nobody doubted the allegations made against Saddam Hussein's regime. "What is at issue is whether or not we had definitively reached the point of last resort to justify an attack of this magnitude by two super powers against a country whose civilian population is so vulnerable in a conflict, which has the capacity to destabilise the whole region and inflame tensions between the Muslim and western worlds."

Ms O'Donnell was speaking during the resumed debate on the Fine Gael Private Members' motion calling on the Government to ensure that the United Nations played the lead co-ordinating role in the international relief effort in Iraq. The motion was accepted by the Government and passed by the House.

Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh, SF spokesman on international affairs and defence, accused the Government of "disgusting hypocrisy" and of "shedding crocodile tears for the children and civilians of Iraq."

Mr John Gormley (Green Party, Dublin South East) said that if the war was wrong, Ireland should stop its assistance to the American war effort. The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said there was something wrong, very wrong indeed, about a Government which was willing, on the one hand, to support the motion, and on the other to continue to facilitate the activities which made the motion necessary.