Free Republic

Ireland has become the first EU country to formally designate Israeli settlement expansion as “annexation” of Palestinian land. The Irish parliament, the Dáil, said so in a motion passed unanimously on Wednesday (26 May). “The scale, pace, and strategic nature of Israel’s actions on settlement expansion and the intent behind it have brought us to a point where we need to be honest about what is actually happening on the ground … it is de facto annexation,” Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney also told MPs in a debate on Tuesday prior to voting. “This is not something that I, or...

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald today blasted “arrogant” political rivals for denying her party a place in the next Irish Government. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has ruled out entering a coalition with the left-leaning party because of historic links to the IRA. Ms. McDonald told a party meeting in Belfast: “The political establishment of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are circling the wagons in defense of a status quo that will not deliver the change citizens voted for last weekend. Because they don’t want change. That is why they said they wouldn’t talk to us. And it now...