FORMER PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins has called on the Irish government to use its upcoming presidency of the European Union to challenge fellow member states on their commitment to the UN charter and international law, particularly when it comes to relations with Israel and Palestine. 

“It is humanity that is at stake,” Higgins told the audience in a Trinity College lecture hall this evening, in a speech that levelled criticism at the Irish government’s version of the Occupied Territories Bill, some voices in the Irish media and the “catastrophic” effects of capitalism.

Higgins was speaking as part of a panel of experts convened by the Irish-Palestinian alliance Sadaka, which launched a policy paper with recommendations for the Irish government’s EU presidency.

“I do believe we are at a moral moment. Moral considerations are evaporating and more and more it has been described as a kind of antiquated old European interest no longer sufficient,” he said.  

Higgins said there has been “a strident suggestion that we should concentrate on interests rather than on the very many normative theories which have been the distinctive contribution of Ireland”. 

He urged the Irish government to concentrate on “recovering a moral standing” when it holds the EU presidency, saying Ireland should not just be “content” to be in a minority among member states when it comes to Israel and the genocide committed against the Palestinian people. 

Higgins also criticised the government’s prioritising of economic interests over moral convictions and commitment to international law. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil this week that there could be significant job losses in US multinational companies based in Ireland if trade in services with illegal settlements in Palestine is prohibited. 

Higgins dismissed the potential economic impacts of the original Occupied Territories Bill as “quite exaggerated”. 

Higgins described as “fairly arrogant” an article he read in The Irish Times recently, which argued that “Ireland needs to grow up and get serious about its interests”.

“But I do think that the will of the people and the moral instincts of the people” should be reflected in a country’s foreign policy, Higgins said. 

“Is there an interest greater than to want to participate in a world that is governed by peace?

“The foreign policy of a people must reflect their mind, their heart, their principles, their sense of morality and how they want to see themselves perceived and welcomed by the other members not just of the human family but all of the forms of life on this planet.”

The former president said he had one regret from his political career:

“Only that I wasn’t more explicit about the catastrophic effects of a capitalism and an abuse of power and the havoc that it has done, placing our planet at risk, responsible for so many deaths that would have been avoided.” 

His criticism of capitalism’s influence extended to a scathing condemnation of US president Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace and the plans to “reconstruct” Gaza.

“I like to call a land grab for what it is. And that is what is proposed” he said. 

He had particularly strong feelings about the architect of the Board of Peace, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who he said made it so “the most dubious forms of money” could fund the “land grab”.

The Financial Times reported this week that the board’s fund is empty and that donation have been made directly into a private bank account.

Higgins’ comments on the future of Gaza envisioned by the Trump administration and Israel coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering his military to occupy 70% of Gaza (up from the current 60%). 

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, today said that plans for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza would go ahead “at the right time”.

During a Q&A session after the talk, Higgins was asked by a member of the audience how he felt about the upcoming football match between Ireland and Israel.

“I will not be attending the game, nor would I,” he said.

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