'We've seen what you've done' - Tánaiste tells Russia their actions will not be forgotten

Russia's actions in Ukraine will never be forgotten and will never be forgiven. 

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar made the statement in a rousing speech given during a joint sitting of the Oireachtas today (Wednesday April 6). 

It follows a historic address by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke from Kyiv via video link with the aid of a translator. 

President Zelensky thanked the Irish public for supporting Ukraine and its people "from the very first days" of Russia's invasion. 

He said, "You did not doubt starting helping us, you began doing this right away and although you are a neutral country, you have not remained neutral to the disaster and to the mishaps that Russia has brought to Ukraine." 

The Tánaiste spoke following the conclusion of the president's speech and said Ireland knows "what it is like to be invaded and to have the very existence of our national identity questioned". 

He said, "For these reasons we feel for the idealism of the Ukrainian people, their defiance and their determination to face down a new evil empire." 

In his speech, Minister Varadkar spoke of Ireland's anger at Russia's "appalling human rights abuses" and promised to do everything possible to aid Ukraine by sheltering its people and standing by them "in their greatest hour". 

He said, "The abolitionist and civil rights leader, Frederick Douglass, liked to quote our own civil rights leader, Daniel O’Connell, who he met here in Dublin. He said that the history of the Irish people could be traced like a wounded man through a crowd.  By the blood. Today the history of Ukraine can be traced through its villages and towns and cities by the suffering of its children, its women and its men. By the blood." 

In a message for Russian president, Vladimir Putin, his government, diplomats, collaborators and apologists, the Tánaiste said, "Over the past 42 days you have violated the human rights of another sovereign people, your neighbours, your friends, your so-called Slavic brothers. You have raped and defiled the very principles of common humanity which bind us together in peace and harmony. 

"You have betrayed your own people and your own country’s rich history and culture, your own resistance to oppression over many centuries. 

"We here have no quarrel with the people of Russia.  We particularly admire those extraordinarily brave people who continue to oppose and protest this war on the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg, despite brutal repression.

"But for those responsible for this conflict, we have a simple message from this House. Your actions will never be forgotten, they will never be forgiven. Thanks to the power of modern media, we’ve seen what you’ve done. You have made yourselves outcasts in the international community. You’ve strengthened Ukrainian national identity. You’ve united Europe and the west. And you’ve made our values shine brighter ever still." 

He continued: "We are a small country, but we have a voice. And today we say to the world that Ireland stands with Ukraine. Our hopes, our thoughts, our prayers, are with the men, women and children of Ukraine, today and tomorrow and forever. We know you will prevail. Slava Ukraini." 

The newest leader of the Labour party, Ivana Bacik, paid special tribute to the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko, for her "steadfast advocacy on behalf of her country". 

She said, "Ambassador, as the brutal Russian invasion of your democratic European country continues, we learn this week about the carrying out of war crimes in Bucha, about the ongoing siege of Mariupol and the atrocities that have been committed by Russian forces in other cities and communities.

"These reports have horrified us all and now show the need for an intensification of  our collective response. 

"While we in Labour welcome the news of a fifth round of EU sanctions, and also welcomed the expulsion of diplomatic staff from the Russian embassy in Dublin last week, we believe that greater sanctions and a stronger stance against Putin’s aggression and criminality are needed." 

Deputy Bacik called on the government to take further measures against Russia, including the expulsion of the Russian Ambassador from Ireland, a full embargo on Russian oil and gas, and the "urgent initiation" of investigations and prosecutions into Russian war crimes against civilians. 

She said, "Let’s be clear. Putin wants to wipe Ukraine off the map. Ambassador, he wants to abolish your culture, your history. Putin must fail. Putin will fail."