No change to threat level in Ireland, Simon Harris says

By Cillian Sherlock and Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

There has been “no change” to Ireland’s security status or threat level amid the escalating conflict in the Gulf, the Tánaiste has said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “We’re continuing to monitor the situation globally and any potential impact for Europe.”

Meanwhile, the Government estimates that between 22,000 and 23,000 Irish citizens are in the region, and Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee said a “relatively low number” had already left.

Harris said “all options are on the table” to assist Irish citizens who need help out of the region.

Speaking to reporters before a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, he said “whatever can be done to practically and effectively and efficiently” help would be done.

He said this could include chartering flights, adding the resumption of commercial flights was currently not likely.

“There are a number of options. One, commercial flights could resume. At the moment, that doesn’t look particularly likely.

“Two, Ireland could charter flights directly. It may not be possible to get the flights into the epicentre, if you like, of the conflict – that wouldn’t be desirable for anybody’s safety, but the likes of Oman and others could be considered.

“And then, thirdly, there’s a possibility in the hours ahead, of European countries moving together. So all of this is being considered in real time.”

McEntee said her department was developing a list of its most vulnerable citizens who need assistance.

She said this included elderly people, pregnant women and those with medical conditions.

While airlines are prioritising those who were cut off in transit without accommodation, residency or hotel bookings, Ms McEntee said her officials were working on their own separate list.

“There are people out there who are pregnant, and who are advanced in their pregnancy, so we want to make sure that if we have a chartered flight, that we have a very clear list of who will be on those flights, making sure that those who are most vulnerable, those who aren’t residents, who don’t have accommodation, are prioritised in that regard.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there was “no question” US strikes on Iran took place without a UN mandate, as he called for “de-escalation” and “a return to the negotiating table”.

Asked about the US administration’s contention that the region would be safer after its intervention, Martin said: “The UN is in urgent need of reform and the Security Council as it’s currently constituted is not fit for purpose because of its composition.

“And Iran has been a very malign force in the Middle East.

“The Middle East has not been safe for quite a long time, and Iran must take a significant degree of responsibility for that, and particularly in terms of its arming of Hezbollah, its support of Assad, its arming of Hamas.

“And notwithstanding a lot of treaties over about 20 years, Iran has never pulled back from nuclear enrichment programme, so a lot of that has been, I think, a factor in the instability in the Middle East that we witnessed.”

He added: “We will wait and see where how this conflict evolves. I think it’s important de-scalation would occur, that we would get to negotiating tables as quickly as possible, bring back stability.”

Martin said there was a “dilemma” about how the International rules-based community could engage or “ensures change” in “regimes that are as repressive as Iran is”.

Asked if she had relayed concerns about the safety of Irish citizens to counterparts in the US or Israel, McEntee said: “I’ve made my concerns very clear, I’ve been very clear in my response to the conflict itself.

“This is a conflict that does not have congressional support, it does not have a UN mandate, this is not the route that we would have chosen.

“We want this conflict to end as soon as possible, we’ve made that very clear.

“This will be relayed in any contacts that we have or any engagement, be it with our US counterparts or anybody else.”

Asked if she had any engagement in the last four days with the US or Israel, she said: “We’ve had engagement more broadly and I’ll be engaging as well with colleagues in this regard.”