‘Critics of plan for peace mission to North Korea are snobs,’ says McGrath
INDEPENDENT Alliance Minister Finian McGrath has broken his silence to robustly defend the North Korean peace initiative also involving ministerial colleagues Shane Ross and John Halligan.
Mr McGrath is unrepentant about engaging in “dialogue for peace” which he says is a real effort to head off a major threat of nuclear holocaust as relations deteriorate between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
He dismissed the criticisms from some Government and Opposition colleagues, and certain commentators, as “the reaction of political snobs and hoity-toitys”.
He said this was in contrast to more favourable reaction from the public.
The Disability Issues Minister also played down the difference of views on the issue between Independent Alliance colleagues Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran and Seán Canney, both of whom disagree with the initiative.
“We are not a political party and we take different positions on various issues,” Mr McGrath said.
He has also insisted the issue would not bring down the Government. But the trio will hear and consider in full the views of Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and his officials before making a definitive decision.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mr Coveney have already made it very clear that they do not want the peace mission and will not sanction it. The plan was revealed last Friday by Junior Science Minister John Halligan, who said they had already written to the North Korean embassy in London seeking a meeting with the country’s dictator, and were awaiting a reply.
Mr Halligan said the trio would not represent the Irish Government – but would present as “three leading Irish politicians”. Speaking to the ‘Sunday Independent’, the Waterford TD defended the initiative, saying nobody would be so dismissive if it involved leading French or Spanish politicians.
Now Mr McGrath, a TD for Dublin Bay North, said the world was at serious risk of nuclear war involving the USA and North Korea and that both countries’ leaders were not widely trusted.
“There is nothing wrong with going to talk about peace. John Halligan, Shane Ross and I spend 95pc of our time doing our ‘day job’, dealing with national and local issues. Occasionally, we take a stance on issues like Catalonia, North Korea or Palestine,” he said.
He argued that he had secured a €1.8bn budget for his area of responsibilities, increased by €75m next year. He said he already secured a €40m development at Beaumont Hospital and other developments.
“North Korea’s experience is not widely known. In World War II, the UK lost 0.94pc of its population, France 1.35pc and USA 0.32pc. But in the Korean War in the 1950s, North Korea lost 30pc of its population, 78 cities were razed by American bombers, and thousands of villages were also destroyed,” Mr McGrath said.
“Given that level of death and destruction, it’s no wonder they are concerned at US threats. We need to engage with those people,” he said.
Mr McGrath said Mr Halligan would listen carefully to what the Department of Foreign Affairs had to say on the matter.
“We will then make our decision following that. But my heart says that there is nothing wrong with talking about peace, especially in this situation,” he said.