Wicklow TD shares how he held hand of child shot during Gaza conflict
The Wicklow PeopleA Wicklow-Wexford TD has spoken of what he witnessed when he visited Cairo in Egypt recently during a heated debate at a Foreign Affairs committee meeting at which he supported progressing the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Bill 2025.
Addressing comments by former minister Alan Shatter, who dismissed the bill as “performance politics”, Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan outlined the response he had received from NGOs on the ground.
“I am not sure what you did last weekend Mr Shatter, but I got on a plane, and I went to Cairo and I went to meet the people on the coalface.
“I went on my own, there was no media circus, I went in a personal capacity, and I paid my own way.
“I met the NGOs that are on the coalface. These are hardened NGO’s – they have been all over the world. They have seen catastrophic scenes. But what is going on in Gaza is simply on a different scale.
“I went and I sat on a bed with a young man that was in the prime of his life and he has two months to live, because of what’s happening in Gaza.
“I played football with teenage kids who are orphans, because of what’s happening in Gaza.
“I held the hand of a two-year-old child that had bullet wounds because of what’s happening in Gaza.”
Deputy Brennan continued: “So when you say to me, and when you say to this committee that this is a token gesture, this is fantasy politics, that this is performance politics, I totally reject that.
“How dare you come in here and make such statements.
“You speak to the people on the ground that matter. Listen to what they’ve got to say about this bill. The NGO’s that have seen what’s going on.
“I think the most important thing that we should do is listen to those that are on the ground. They are asking us to continue, for Ireland and its Government to continue to take the lead in their fight for peace and justice for the people of Palestine and find a long-term solution.”
Speaking during a separate Dáil debate on the issue, junior minister Niamh Smyth said the Government is committed to progressing the legislation.
“As the Tánaiste said very clearly last week, we in the Oireachtas want to pass the legislation in a fully informed manner, with our eyes wide open. “It cannot be emphasised enough that the optimal policy scenario would be appropriate action at EU level.
“This has been, and continues to be, the focus of the Government's engagement. We regret that it has been necessary to move ahead of EU partners on a matter of such importance.”
In response Deputy Brennan said young people can’t be forgotten when the ceasefire takes full effect.
“They have lost everything. They will be angry because they are watching the world doing nothing. In our lifetime, we have never witnessed anything on this scale. As a result, we cannot be found wanting in the context of our response to these atrocities.”