{"id":675874,"date":"2026-11-05T16:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T16:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/675874\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T16:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T16:02:13","slug":"ireland-should-encourage-us-to-change-tack-on-foreign-affairs-mcentee-tells-conference-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/675874\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland should encourage US to change tack on foreign affairs, McEntee tells conference \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States<\/a> is \u201cstill our most important security partner\u201d, and Ireland<\/a> should encourage it to change tack on some of its foreign affairs positions, Helen McEntee<\/a> has said.<\/p>\n

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence was addressing an EU defence and security conference at Dublin Castle on Thursday as part of Ireland\u2019s EU presidency.<\/p>\n

In her address, McEntee emphasised Ireland and the EU\u2019s support for the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been targeted with sanctions under Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s second administration. <\/p>\n

She also called for continued EU support for Gaza. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe simply cannot wait for a new government in Iran or in Israel to be formed or for possible changes in the US,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe international community must act … the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the situation in the West Bank where violent settlers and settlement expansion have reached unprecedented levels and yet they go unchecked. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to act and we need to collectively defend the two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she highlighted the importance of EU-US relations, and encouraging the US to \u201cchange some of the approaches\u201d it has taken. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is essential that in everything that we do and when we talk about our policies that we are working closely with our colleagues in the US,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are still our most important security partner, and it is essential that we are working with them and that we are … where possible … encouraging changes to some of the approaches that have been taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia<\/a>\u2019s ongoing war in Ukraine is a key talking point of the conference. McEntee condemned Russia while also pointing to Ireland\u2019s efforts to help Ukraine, including assistance and its bid for EU membership.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Donald Trump\u2019s presidency effectively ended\u2019: Congressman on US Democratic wins in midtermsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"MinisterMinister for Defence Helen McEntee meets Irish peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. Photograph: Defence Forces\/PA <\/p>\n

McEntee also addressed the upcoming conclusion of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping mission.<\/p>\n

The recent Cabinet approval for removal of the triple lock will allow Defence Forces members to participate in a new EU mission in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

This has been heavily criticised by Opposition TDs, but McEntee and her colleagues have defended the plans.<\/p>\n

They have also rejected claims the mission could result in Irish soldiers coming under threat from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) clashes with Hizbullah. <\/p>\n

McEntee addressed the new mission in her address on Thursday. \u201cAdvancing EU support for the security and the stability of Lebanon is also a priority,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you that I came from Lebanon just last weekend, where I travelled directly to the south, to the area that is currently occupied by the Israel Defense Forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the eye can see, not a single building is left standing. It is quite devastating to see what has happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concern, and I think that of many people, is that when our uniform troops pull out, who will be there to monitor what is happening? Who will be there to see what happens?\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe welcome agreement on establishing a new EU support mission for Lebanon. While it\u2019s not a successor to UNIFIL, this will provide important supports.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland braces for keener Trump eye on foreign affairsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States is \u201cstill our most important security partner\u201d, and Ireland should encourage it to change tack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[969,1556,123265,61,11829,60,43,41870,115],"class_list":["post-675874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-donald-trump","tag-helen-mcentee","tag-hizbullah","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-unifil","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}