\n Ireland must \u201ccall out the abuse of power\u201d regardless of whether it takes place by America or Russia, Independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has said.\n <\/p>\n
\n At an event in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, Ms Connolly called for ceasefires in Ukraine and Gaza, saying there needs to be negotiations to end the wars.\n <\/p>\n
\n Amid questioning about the ongoing war in Ukraine and whether or not she would call for the full withdrawal of Russian troops, Ms Connolly said she had never been equivocal on the invasion or on the Hamas<\/a> attack on October 7.\n <\/p>\n \n The Galway TD said she had \u201cnever hesitated\u201d to condemn either Russia or Hamas.\n <\/p>\n \n Ms Connolly said, as a neutral country, Ireland must continue to call out abuses of power if it wants to be seen as a \u201cpeace-loving country\u201d.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI have absolutely no hesitation in doing that,\u201d Ms Connolly said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cShould more efforts have been made to stop the slaughter in Ukraine and stop the war? Yes. I think there should have been more diplomatic efforts made to do that,\u201d Ms Connolly said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cShould more effort have been made in relation to stop the genocide? Without a doubt. How pathetic is it that we have genocide and I\u2019m saying more effort should have been made?\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt is a stain on humanity. War is a stain on humanity and we should be using our voice in every way possible to use diplomatic means as a country that has built up credits over the years to stop that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Ms Connolly doubled down on her criticism of the military industrial complex, which originally came up in a debate at UCD on Wednesday night.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe military industrial complex is not a way to bring peace. The billions that are going into the military industrial complex is at the cost of [reducing] poverty, its at the cost of making the world less safe,\u201d Ms Connolly said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI do not believe in the military industrial complex and what the EU is doing. I don\u2019t believe in the billions going in and poverty increases. It\u2019s a madness, and we have nothing to lose by calling out that madness and trying a different way.\u201d\n <\/p>\n