Blog Archive
My Trip to Gaza- Saturday and Sunday
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Eamonn O'Gara
Saturday was another early day, though the view from our beachside hotel quickly woke me up. Along the beautiful coastline lie mounds of ruins, which make up much of Gaza City. After breakfast our delegation went on a tour of some of the destroyed areas of the city, and listened to eye witnesses of the IDF assault. Such destruction is unbelievable- almost every building showed traces of damage.
During our tour we met with many of the local inhabitants of Gaza City. Around 400,000 people live in Gaza City, where levels of poverty and unemployment are regrettably predictable. Over half the population of the city is under 18 years old, and everywhere we travelled there were scores of children following our group. Over two thirds of these children, our guide informed us, are refugees.
One of the principle reasons for our trip was to check on the progress made in rebuilding the region since the Israeli 'Operation Cast Lead' about this time last year. Many members of our delegation had visited Gaza shortly after the operation, which left 1,400 Gazans dead. In their opinion, unfortunately, little had changed.
Meeting with the inhabitants of the area was a bittersweet occasion. The Gazans we met were overwhelmingly genial and welcoming, and keen to practice their English. However the psychological impact which the battles in the area must have on these children, many of whom have lost multiple family members, is upsetting.
Later on Saturday we also met with Irishman John Ging, who is the head of the UNWRA in the area. John was very interesting to talk to, not least because he provides an Irish perspective into the troubles in the region. Given our own history people in the Middle East tend to listen to an Irish opinion on conflict resolution, and the work of John and his colleagues is crucial in providing some quality of life in Gaza.
On Saturday evening we travelled back to Cairo, where traffic is about as ordered as the Gaza waterfront. Late on Sunday afternoon we set off for our meeting with Amr Mousa, who is Secretary General of the Arab League. The meeting lasted for an hour or so and many important topics were covered. We also met with Egyptian officials including the Foreign Minister Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Whilst the meeting with the Egyptians was constructive, their delegation firmly expressed the view that while they sympathised with the Palestinian people, they were not willing to intervene at the expense of their own stability.
- I will be in Strasbourg this week, having travelled back from Cairo this morning. However I intend to devote more of my time to the issue in future, and have scheduled a speech in parliament this week in order to share my experiences with my fellow MEPs.
In the meantime I welcome any opinions or commentary on the topic.
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My trip to Gaza- Thursday and Friday
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Eamonn O'Gara
If the imposing city of Cairo wasn't enough to take in on the first day of my trip to the Middle East -anyone who has been to Egypt will remember the organised chaos of the city- the experience of getting to know the fifty or so other European MPs and MEPs who are part of our delegation has made for a very interesting start.
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Labour MEP in Gaza as part of largest ever political delegation to the strip
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Andy White
The delegation includes over fifty MPs and MEPs from 12 separate countries and the visit has been organised by the NGO 'End the Siege on Gaza'.
Nessa Childers said: "A year on from the 2009 Israeli war on Gaza which saw the deaths of 1,400 people, Gaza is still being controlled by the Israelis. With a population of over one and a half million people in an area half the size of Co. Louth, residents continue to be denied the basic materials, and the food and medical care required for human survival and development as a direct result of the ongoing Israeli blockade.
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Environment Commissioner Potočnik seems to pass test while Friends of the Earth provide food for thought
Posted on January 13, 2010 by Eamonn O'Gara
As an MEP I often receive requests from various groups for a meeting in my office, in order to discuss the position of their organisation in advance of an upcoming vote in the European Parliament. As any legislation passed or dismissed by the parliament can often have a profound impact on these organisations (as well as many citizens in the EU), I regularly hold meetings with such groups in order to gain a wider perspective of the issue at hand.
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Ashton first in line as grilling of new Commission begins
Posted on January 11, 2010 by Eamonn O'Gara
The latest prospective European Commission is being grilled by the parliament all this week, and the interrogation kicked off today with its most controversial and high-profile new addition, Catherine Ashton.
The Commission itself is one of the most debated in decades, not least because of its new Vice-President, who will also hold the position of High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the EU. Due to Ireland's much publicised on-off love affair with the Lisbon Treaty, most people are aware that the Commission was originally due to be reduced from 27 to 18 Commissioners, with each country serving two out of every three terms. However thanks to our unique ratification process, all 27 positions from the previous Commission will now be retained.
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Shocking treatment of Lenihan family breaches letter and spirit of media privacy codes
Posted on December 29, 2009 by Andy White
The shocking treatment of Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan and his family in the context of media reports into the Minister’s health is a ‘clear and disturbing breach’ of the Broadcasting Commissions of Ireland’s Code of Programme Standards and the Press Ombudsman’s Privacy Code, according to Labour MEP, Nessa Childers.
“Even a cursory reading of the relevant sections of these Codes shows that the media outlets who went public with the revelations about the Minister’s health status drove a coach and four through the letter and spirit of the frameworks governing print and broadcast media standards in Ireland.
“In fact, I would also be concerned that this unwarranted intrusion into a public figure’s private life may even be in contravention of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which provides a right to respect for one's ‘private and family life.’
“The way in which the privacy of the Lenihan family has been trampled on begs a number of important questions in relation to the future operation and regulation of the media in Ireland. The voluntary press codes are predicated on the notion that the media acts in good faith and in the wider public interest in the pursuit and publication of a story.
“When the fundamental tenets of an agreed, voluntary code have been so severely transgressed as to bring the codes themselves into disrepute, then the government, the Press Council, the Press Ombudsman, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and other relevant stakeholders must revisit this whole area as a matter of urgency in order to assert, protect and defend the right to dignity and respect for the individual under a more robust and certain legal framework.
Nessa Childers added, “The circumstances surrounding the media speculation around Brian Lenihan's health condition should cause all of us to imagine what it would be like for our families to be faced with an unwarranted intrusion like this. Already there would be a great deal of fear and worry. Both parents would be struggling with their own feelings as well as having to talk about the unthinkable with their children.
“In the middle of all of this anxiety, a disturbing and intrusive phone call appears to have been made telling the family that the ‘story’ will enter the public sphere in a matter of a couple of days. This deadline imposed by another has effectively robbed a family of the courtesy and dignity of addressing this most personal of matters at a time which best suits them.
“The voluntary, or at least the laissez-faire operation and enforcement of codes of conduct in this country have hopelessly failed in the financial sector and now we see the same here.
“There is every likelihood that at some point in the near future the Privacy Bill will be brought into law. This has been resisted until now on the basis that the voluntary nature of the code is working for everyone. The events of the last couple of days ask serious questions about this assertion.
“In addition to the suffering caused to individuals, repeated violations and intrusions into people’s private space have the potential to make politics a more fearful and less attractive profession for people of ability to be involved in."
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Something rotten in state of Denmark
Posted on December 20, 2009 by Eamonn O'Gara
Irish MEP Nessa Childers described the Copenhagen Accord reached in the Danish capital this weekend as "terribly disappointing and largely pointless. Something really was rotten in the state of Denmark this week," she said.
The Labour MEP who sits on the European Parliament's powerful Environment Committee and was in Copenhagen this week said, "Essentially the world's two biggest polluters, the US and China, have failed to show any leadership on the greatest threat facing humanity. For this they must be condemned by all who care about the future of our planet.
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Leaving a snowy Copenhagen...
Posted on December 17, 2009 by Eamonn O'Gara
As I leave Copenhagen today, the soundings coming from the conference do not sound good. It seems we are suffering from a lack of leadership from the US and China is particular and also a less than satisfactory stewardship from the Danish hosts. The shambolic UN organisation of the event, leaving people queuing for hours in the cold didnt help.
For more updates and photos from my Copenhagen trip, check out my Facebook page...
Now to the airport. I hope all the visiting Head of States dont mean the transport options will be blocked off...
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Irish NGOs locked out of Copenhagen talks
Posted on December 16, 2009 by Eamonn O'Gara
Speaking from outside the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Labour MEP Nessa Childers has slammed the decision by conference organizers to ‘lock out non-governmental environmental groups from witnessing a defining moment in history’.
Nessa Childers said, “This Conference was supposed to be about openly and honestly tackling the great challenge of our time in an accountable and transparent way. Try telling that to Irish NGOs such as An Grian, who were among the hundreds of expert groups barred from entering the conference venue today. I spoke to An Grian founder Pat Finnegan myself in the queue outside, and heard first hand his anger at the Irish government.
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COP15 Latest - Despondency creeping into Copenhagen talks after walkout
Posted on December 15, 2009 by Eamonn O'Gara
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