Irish Daily Mail

LEO: KIM JONG-UN MEETING? NOT ON YOUR LIFE, JOHN!

Taoiseach shoots down junior minister’s proposed peace mission to N Korea saying he ‘wouldn’t want anything beastly’ to happen

- By James Ward and Jennifer Bray in San Francisco

LEO Varadkar has shot down John Halligan’s bizarre plan to visit North Korea for peace talks – in case ‘anything beastly’ might happen to him.

The junior minister had already received a ‘scathing’ dressing down from senior Foreign Affairs officials yesterday, after the Irish Daily Mail revealed that he was planning to broker peace with despotic dictator Kim Jong-un.

Mr Halligan had written to the North Korean embassy for permission to bring fellow Independen­t Alliance ministers

Shane Ross and Finian McGrath with him for discussion­s on nuclear disarmamen­t. But the Taoiseach moved swiftly yesterday to halt the plan that threatened to embarrass the Government internatio­nally.

Speaking in San Francisco on a trip to the United States, Mr Varadkar said he was confident the visit would not now happen.

‘It is not something that I envisage going ahead. I am sure that it is motivated from good intentions on his part,’ he said.

‘It is, of course, a dangerous place to go and I certainly wouldn’t want anything beastly happening to any minister of state or member of Government.’ He said Mr Halligan would get a briefing on Monday from the Department of Foreign Affairs on North Korea.

‘I have absolutely no doubt that it is a well motivated suggestion. I know John is very sincere about these things. It is not something that he spoke to me about but I understand he has spoken to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.’

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney spoke to Mr Halligan yesterday and a spokesman for the department said the Government does not support ‘any parliament­ary delegation visiting North Korea at this time, given the sensitivit­ies involved’. He said Ireland fully supports the EU policy on the

‘What’s to lose in talking peace?’

DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and the internatio­nal sanctions regime.

A spokesman for North Korea’s embassy said yesterday that it would welcome a visit from Minister Halligan and his colleagues, but clarified that they were speaking in a personal capacity. The final decision will likely rest with Kim Jong-un’s government.

When contacted by the Mail, the American Embassy in Dublin said it had no comment to make on the story, before adding: ‘It is entirely their own prerogativ­e.’

The furore erupted as Kim yesterday threatened to throw Japan ‘to the bottom of the sea’ ahead of a state visit by US President Donald Trump next week.

Mr Halligan went on radio yesterday morning to insist there was ‘nothing sensationa­l’ about his bid to travel to North Korea and start peace talks that could bring the rogue nuclear nation ‘out of the darkside’. He told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke: ‘What is there to lose by attempting to talk peace with North Korea?

‘The greatest threat to peace in the world is on the Korean penin- sula where Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump are a threat to bringing the world to nuclear oblivion. I don’t see a problem if we have had contacts with North Korea before. They have come to Ireland on numerous occasions, they have met politician­s in Ireland.’

He conceded he was unlikely to get a face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong-un, dubbed ‘Little Rocket Man’ by President Trump.

But if a meeting was possible he would attempt to bring about constructi­ve democratic discussion­s. He said: ‘We would be going there as three democratic­ally elected politician­s in Ireland to try and talk peace. This would not be a Government mission to talk about Government policy on North Korea or the world.’ But, he said, as an internatio­nally respected neutral country, Ireland should engage in talks with the North Koreans, who have spent much of this year testing nuclear and ballistic missiles.

‘I do think the Government should get involved,’ he said. ‘I think there’s an inevitabil­ity. We’ve two choices, will there be war or will there be talks? Will there be peace? We are prominent, neutral politician­s, and we’re highly respected for our neutrality.’

Transport Minister Shane Ross and Junior Minister Finian McGrath have confirmed they are backing Mr Halligan and will travel with him if the trip goes ahead.

Mr Ross’s involvemen­t prompted critics to complain that he should concentrat­e on resolving the rail dispute that has already seen one day of stoppages, with more threatened ahead of Christmas.

Dermot O’Leary, general secretary at the National Bus and Rail Union, described the news as ‘prepostero­us’ and said it was ‘a clear demonstrat­ion of how much Mr Ross and his Independen­t Alliance colleagues are out of touch with what’s going on, on their own doorstep’.

The news was greeted with shock by members of the Oireachtas, with European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee insisting that any such proposals should have been put to Government first.

One Fine Gael backbenche­r said they couldn’t believe the story, describing it as ‘utterly bizarre’.

They quipped: ‘I don’t think it’s a safe place to go at all. Sure, the day they’re over there, Donald Trump could fire up Twitter and

that will be the end of them.’ Another said: ‘I know the Department of Foreign Affairs are very unhappy with them but that’s all I’ve heard.

‘Other than that, there have been some very funny emails flying back and forth among the members.’

Fianna Fáil frontbench­er Barry Cowen quipped that he could see no benefit in sending ‘Comical Halli’ and his friends to Korea.

However, shortly after 7pm last night, Mr Halligan appeared to take a defiant stance and tweeted: ‘There should be no issue with promoting peace through dialogue.’

And he was backed by Minister McGrath who said last night: ‘I understand people suggesting that we’re unlikely to have much success, but Irish experience has progressed peace talks before.’

And he added: ‘We’re willing to use our limited platform to promote peace in whatever way we can and, if necessary, face the ridicule that comes with it.’

He said: ‘I believe Ireland has a message for the world resolving conflicts through dialogue and I’m happy to support John Halligan in this cause.’ Comment – Page 14 james.ward@dailymail.ie

 ??  ?? In charge: North Korea leader Kim Jong-un
In charge: North Korea leader Kim Jong-un
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Ireland