Source: Government of Ireland – Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee – 28 January 2026, Croke Park
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Go raibh míle maith agaibh. Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Guests, Colleagues,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Dublin today, and here to Croke Park. This is a place that holds a special place in Irish life. For over 140 years, this stadium has been the home to some of our most celebrated sporting events, bringing people together in shared pride, rivalry and respect.
It’s also a place and a scene of a key moment in Ireland’s struggle to become an independent republic in 1920. On Bloody Sunday, 14 people were killed and 60 injured.
In the decades since, this stadium has been the scene of epic sporting contests, and the annual All Ireland Finals for Gaelic football and hurling.
Today, we gather here for a different purpose. Not to compete, but to reaffirm a shared commitment: to advance the cause of a just, lasting and peaceful future for the Middle East.
Ireland is honoured to host the eighth meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
In a relatively short time, the Global Alliance has solidified itself as a formidable and determined network, one that moves beyond words towards concrete action, one that’s grounded in dialogue, cooperation and resolve.
I want to join in expressing my sincere thanks to our previous hosts – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Norway, Egypt, the European Union and Belgium, and Morocco and the Netherlands.
I also wish to acknowledge in particular the Co-Chairs of the Global Alliance – Saudi Arabia, Norway, and the European Union – and France as Co-Chair of the UN High Level Conference.
I also want to thank all delegations represented here today. A particular welcome to our Palestinian friends. You are united by a shared determination to move decisively, collectively and credibly towards the implementation of the two-State solution.
We meet today in renewal of this commitment to the core objectives of the Global Alliance, including the critical role it can play in implementing the New York Declaration.
Ireland’s commitment to supporting peace efforts in the Middle East is steadfast and enduring.
Our foreign policy is guided by, and has always been guided by, our history and our values, including support for democracy and the peaceful resolution of international disputes.
Because of our own experiences on this island, we feel a deep and personal affinity with those who seek self-determination, who strive for dignity and who simply wish to live in peace. Something that so many of us take for granted but something that so many can only strive for. The depth of feeling among the Irish people, particularly in light of recent events, anchors the Government’s approach.
In the not so distant past, conflict on the island of Ireland seemed intractable. Violence bred violence. A peaceful, secure and inclusive society seemed beyond reach.
As hosts of today’s meeting, we would like to share with you some of the experiences that we have had building an inclusive political process.
We do not claim to have all the answers, nor do we seek to apply what worked here to any other part of the world.
Every conflict is unique and peace is never a finished project.
But, we do believe that the lessons and experiences from our own sustained peace process can offer hope and perspective, and can serve as a reminder of fundamental principles of peace building and reconciliation.
There are also the practical elements, structures and frameworks that were put in place at key moments.
Chief among them were the provisions in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement for a normative and a principles-based framework for three interlocking sets of relationships – within Northern Ireland, on the island of Ireland, and between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain.
Supporting mechanisms – including those addressing decommissioning and policing reform – provided stability and reassurance during some of the most difficult phases of implementation. These structures mattered. They helped turn aspirations into reality.
A fundamental principle was the commitment to pursue only peaceful and constitutional means, and for organisations that held illegal weapons to renounce violence and commit to put them beyond use.
We believe that some of these structures and processes may inspire the type of concrete deliverables that the Global Alliance seeks to identify to achieve the goal of implementing the two-State solution.
Principles of equality, principles of parity of esteem – the right of each community and tradition to be heard and respected, and their legitimate aspirations acknowledged are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement.
So, too, is respect for human rights and the requirement that they be upheld transparently and equally for all.
You will hear more about these important concepts throughout the day, and in particular during the first panel and the address by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern – who I warmly welcome and thank for lending his time to us today.
I warmly welcome also Davey Adams, Alex Maskey and Bronagh Hinds, leaders from across the community in Northern Ireland, who will share with us their first-hand experience of building peace and the challenges and compromises that this required.
We will also talk about the importance of support and engagement from the international community, often at key moments, in the journey towards peace in Northern Ireland.
At different times, the European Union and the United States provided valuable support and encouragement. They continue to do so.
We recall warmly the vital contribution of Senator George Mitchell, as chair of the talks process that led to the Good Friday Agreement, and of his fellow co-chairs, General John de Chastelain of Canada and the late Prime Minister of Finland, Harri Holkeri.
We have been fortunate to have and be able to call on the support and engagement of successive US Presidents.
In the sensitive but necessary process of decommissioning, we were fortunate to have the support and engagement of General de Chastelain, President Ramaphosa of South Africa and the late President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland.
Perhaps most fundamental of all was a strong sense of partnership and commitment between the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
A belief that it was possible to transcend a history marked by conflict, division and mistrust, and work to achieve a just and lasting peace that would make possible a better future, not just for the people of Northern Ireland, but for all the people living in these interconnected islands.
This conviction, that a better future is possible if we can find ways to work together and mechanisms to build trust, sustained communities, parties and leaders across these islands during the many dark days of the conflict as well as during the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement.
And they have sustained a commitment to achieving progress in the years that followed.
For achieving peace has never been about a moment in time.
It was and continues to be a process – requiring renewed engagement and commitment, to work the institutions, to address remaining issues, to walk in each other’s shoes, and to find the solutions that make life better for the communities we serve.
I mention here also the vital role and contribution of civil society to achieving peace, to building relationships and keeping channels for dialogue open when political pathways were closed.
At different times in our journey to peace civil society made an important contribution, reaching across communal boundaries, acting as back channels and, quite rightly, holding governments and parties to account.
When agreement was found, they lent their support for the necessary compromises within their communities, and necessary concessions, and helped sustain that support through difficult moments of implementation.
Civil society was indispensable to that process. Community groups, faith leaders, women’s organisation, youth activists and trade unions kept dialogue alive when politics faltered. Their voices mattered then, and they matter still.
Friends,
A key pillar of Ireland’s foreign policy is our strong commitment to international law and our promotion of respect for international law.
Global multilateral rules and institutions matter. Ireland’s position, the fundamental belief that all States must adhere to international law, has never faltered.
Accountability is important and it is absolutely imperative that the International Courts are permitted to function.
For a small, militarily neutral state like Ireland, the UN Charter and the rules-based international order is our greatest global security asset.
While it may be imperfect, the UN and the primacy of international law is more important now than ever.
Ireland’s commitment to the United Nations and the primacy of the UN Charter is without question.
We are proud of our long-standing commitment to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. Ireland has been involved in UNIFIL since 1978.
As Minister for Defence, I am conscious that participation has formed a key part of our commitment to peace and stability in the region, complimenting and bolstering our diplomatic and development work. Despite the changes that will take place later this year, we hope and want to continue this presence and this essential work in the region.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are pleased to welcome so many friends and colleagues from the region to today’s meeting.
Events of recent years have been among the most difficult in the region for some time. Having just visited the region in the past two weeks, I want to compliment and commend all those who are working so hard for peace for their friends, families and communities.
The atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel on 7 October 2023 profoundly shocked the Irish people across the world. It was an appalling act and those responsible should be held accountable.
We welcome the release of the hostages and the return of the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza to his grieving family. We hope that this may afford them the dignity that they deserve.
For the people of Gaza, however, the anguish continues.
So many lives taken during this war, so many innocent civilians injured.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have been displaced. Their homes, their livelihood and their homeland have been destroyed. Their loss is inconceivable.
The cycle of violence that has beset Israelis and Palestinians for too long continues.
Driven by a desire to at all times seek to take supportive action, in May 2024, Ireland, alongside our partners in Spain, Norway and Slovenia, took the decision to recognise the State of Palestine.
Our recognition of the State of Palestine was rooted in our belief in the two-State solution, and had three fundamental purposes.
First, it made clear our view that it is time Palestine takes its full place amongst the nations of the world; that its right to self-determination must now be vindicated.
Second, it is an expression of our belief in the equal right to self-determination, peace, security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. The aspirations of both peoples must be afforded equal legitimacy.
Third, it is a reiteration of our fundamental conviction that the only just and sustainable peaceful solution, for both Palestinians and Israelis, is the implementation of that two-State solution, ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine and resulting in a viable, contiguous Palestinian State in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, based on the 1967 borders, in accordance with international law and relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
We look to the day when the two State solution can be achieved, and when both states, Israel and Palestine, are recognised by all states and integrated in their region, as envisaged by the New York Declaration.
Our commitment to help the Palestinian people to achieve self-determination stems equally from our belief that the two-State solution is the only way to establish lasting peace and security for Israel and Palestine and the wider region.
As the New York Declaration provides, “Regional integration and independent Palestinian Statehood are intertwined objectives.” We cannot have one without the other. As is well understood in this room.
I warmly welcome that a large number of States took steps towards recognition of the State of Palestine in the lead up to, and during, UN High Level Week last September.
These were acts of hope, and represented a concrete way to inject new momentum towards achieving the two-State solution. This is something we must strive for – continued momentum and action.
Yet still, the obstacles to the realisation of the two-State solution remain pressing and vast.
International law continues to be violated and Palestinian self-determination undermined.
Humanitarian access obstructed, the Palestinian economy stifled and tax revenues denied to the Palestinian Authority, and the territorial integrity of the West Bank eroded.
And we see weapons continue to be held by those who must give them up.
So there is much work to do and that is why we are here today.
Ireland has welcomed the contribution of the United States, alongside Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye as mediators, to end the conflict in Gaza and their efforts to implement phase two of the Comprehensive Peace Plan.
I am pleased that each of the mediators are with us here today.
Ireland welcomes the announcement of the beginning of the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan, including the formation of the 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, led by Dr Ali Sha’ath.
But we do have concerns that the scope of the Board of Peace that is now envisaged would appear to be wider than the mandate provided by the UN Security Council. How it appears to try to replicate certain existing structures that are already operating on the ground.
We remain ready to work with the US and others on the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Plan in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2803.
We see today’s meeting as one of the ways in which we seek to do this.
As the second phase of the peace plan begins, we must ensure that all parties adhere to their commitments in full, and desist from any actions inconsistent with what was agreed.
I am pleased that my first bilateral visit outside of Europe as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade was to the Middle East.
During my visit to Egypt earlier this month, I witnessed the scale of essential humanitarian items prohibited by Israel from entering Gaza via the Rafah Crossing.
I also visited an UNRWA refugee camp in Jordan to bear witness to the indispensable and vital services that UNRWA provide to Palestine refugees across the region.
We must demand and insist on the immediate delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale, and that humanitarian workers are protected at all times.
Humanitarian aid, early recovery and reconstruction must be directed throughout the entire territory of the Gaza strip, where the civilian population centres are located, in line with International Humanitarian Law.
Today, we stand at a crossroads, with a unique opportunity to implement the necessary measures for lasting peace and justice for Israeli and Palestinians alike.
This is an opportunity to move beyond symbolic gestures, to build upon existing processes that centre human rights, international law and accountability.
Here, in Ireland, we have reaped the rich reward of peace – imperfect and built on hard compromises – and we want nothing more than the same peace for our Israeli and Palestinian friends.
I recall the words of Mairead Maguire, a peace activist from Belfast and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate: “If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future, we will have to sow seeds of non-violence here and now, in the present.”
As we have learned on this island, it is possible to imagine a future not bound by the past.
I wish you every success in your deliberations today. But today is not just about deliberations, it is about concrete actions and how we stay united and focused on the bigger picture – and that is a two state solution, a peaceful solution for all those in the region. I reaffirm Ireland’s commitment to this process and I thank you for your commitment to this important work.