Hypocritical Flanagan and co thinking only of political benefits
The Department of Foreign Affairs refuses to disclose if Ireland supported Saudi Arabia’s election to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. It does so on the basis that the State votes – clearly with little if any regard for human rights, especially of women – on these types of resolutions based on the political benefits that can accrue to Ireland on a global platform like the UN.
In Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive their own cars; they are not allowed to wear clothing that emphasises their beauty; they cannot interact freely with men; they cannot go for a swim unaccompanied; they cannot compete freely in sport; and they must obtain the permission of a male guardian before they can travel outside the country, work or marry.
Apparently, as a people, we do not have the right to know if we supported the election of Saudi Arabia – a truly ‘apartheid’ state – to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. And yet, in the Dáil sitting of May 26, 2016, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan condemned Israel, a state where women serve in the highest echelons of the judiciary, military and medical profession with complete equality.
He stated the following on Israel’s supposed abuse of human rights: “I am deeply concerned about wider attempts to pressure NGOs and human rights defenders through legislation and other means to hinder their important work. We have raised this both at EU level and directly with Israeli authorities.”
Perhaps the minister might like to explain to the Irish people his unhesitating public condemnation of Israel’s record on so-called abuses of human rights with his refusal to disclose how the Irish State voted in Saudi Arabia’s election to the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Or perhaps the Government believes this hypocritical stance simply doesn’t concern the Irish electorate? Dr Kevin McCarthy Kinsale, Co Cork