mr president given that many eu member states were complicit in the process of extraordinary rendition i believe that eu countries including ireland have a collective responsibility to accept a certain number of low-risk guantánamo detainees from the us for resettlement within the eu
irish minister for justice dermot ahern has made such an acceptance conditional on getting eu approval but it is not necessary for ireland to wait for an eu directive to settle guantánamo detainees
we can decide ourselves to sign a bilateral agreement with the us as portugal has done
the irish government ministers for justice and foreign affairs have not been singing from the same hymn sheet on this matter with minister ahern being seemingly unprepared to go as far as minister martin regarding detainee settlement
cohesive leadership is now needed from the irish government in this regard
in a spirit of transatlantic cooperation and to participate in the fight against international terrorism ireland should play its part to assist the new us administration in closing guantánamo
