Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley has defended remarks he made criticising human rights abuses in Tibet after the Chinese ambassador to Ireland walked out of the party's conference last night.
Chinese Ambassador Liu Biwei at the Green Party's annual conference last night
The Chinese Ambassador to Ireland walked out of the Green Party conference last night after Mr Gormley's comments.
Liu Biwei stood up in protest while the Minister for the Environment delivered his speech to the annual conference in Dundalk.
Mr Gormley had told delegates that the Green Party was not just a European party, but an all-island body.
He said respect for human rights must extend to all cultures and countries. “One country which has been exploited and suppressed and suffered for far too long is Tibet,” he said.
“We have always enjoyed good relations with the Chinese people, but we must condemn this abuse of human rights and call on the Chinese government to enter dialogue with the Dalai Lama.”
Delegates applauded as the ambassador and two embassy aides left the room in view of the television cameras and photographers.
Speaking today on RTE's This Weekprogramme, Mr Gormley rejected that he was simply taking a populist line and being unnecessarily rude to an invited guest. He said that the ambassador had been told about the contents of his speech before hand by the general secretary of the party.
He said he is the leader of a party “dedicated to human rights and ecological sustainability” and it was a subject he had felt strongly about for many years.
”We need now to have between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama or representatives of the Dalai Lama to get this process going. Because we need a peace process there, because I believe that the situation in Tibet is intolerable.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today the remarks were in line with Government policy on Tibet.
But he said the problem may have been Mr Gormley's reference to Tibet as a "country".
He said that not even the Dalai Lama was seeking independence for Tibet, but rather a form of autonomy.
Mr Gormley said today he was proud of his party’s record in government with Fianna Fáil.
“It has been ten months of achievement and in relation to climate change, which is the defining issue of our age. The new awareness raising campaign is having a significant impact on the public discourse," he said.
"You only have to listen know to the advertisements for cars which are focusing on CO2 and emissions as a selling point.”
“You can get to see that most Irish people understand now that climate change is the biggest issue facing humanity and they are looking to the Greens and I think that is reflected as well in the fact that our poll rating has gone up since entering Government.”
Mr Gormley said Fianna Fáil understood the impact that energy security and climate change would have on life in the 21st century.
“It doesn’t matter really who’s in Government at this stage they are going to have to do it. There is no question about this. If you don’t step up to the plate we are going to suffer as an economy and as a society.”
“We need to think smart and I believe now that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has understood this. He has been watching international trends and all of the people in Fianna Fáil understand that if this isn’t done our economy will suffer as an economy.”
Mr Gormley said he was confident Brian Cowen, as taoiseach, would continue the commitment to Green issues.
“I’m very confident that Brian Cowen is a team player. He has shown that he has a very profound understanding of what the greens are about. He has shown that as minister for finance.”