Further Education Minister Simon Harris said he was not concerned that Ireland’s position on the violence inflicted in the Gaza Strip could cause diplomatic tensions between Ireland and the US.
Harris, who visited Howard University in Washington, said she had “very honest conversations about concerns at the level of violence” in Gaza with people she met in the United States.
His comments came amid concerns that Israel may launch a ground invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinian refugees have sought refuge from the ongoing war.
The Irish government’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza has intensified, with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar writing to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressing deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza. It calls for an “urgent review” of Israel’s compliance. with human rights obligations under trade agreements with the European Union.
After several political meetings on Capitol Hill in which the devastating effects of the Gaza war featured prominently in the discussion, Harris said: And also in the Biden administration. But we also found a common view that progress is needed.
“There were some very honest conversations about concerns about the level of violence. I can’t comment on the domestic political process in America, but violence can really unite all right-thinking people. I think so.”
“On the need to stop the violence and obviously the immediate release of the hostages, there was a common view that we should aim to move towards a political process that would lead to a two-state solution. But before we can talk about that, we need to stop the violence. Innocent children have been disproportionately affected by war and Ireland will continue to make a strong and principled voice.”
Since arriving in Washington on Monday night, Harris has held meetings at Georgetown University and Howard University to explore further education links between Ireland and the United States.
Mr Harris also gave details of the roles of the six attachés, which will be announced in a speech at the Irish embassy on Tuesday night. The first of those roles will be in San Francisco.
“We would like to continue to develop our connections with industry, business and educational institutions,” he said.
“It would be really valuable to have someone there full-time, not representing individual universities, but actually representing higher education as a whole and looking for opportunities in Ireland in terms of extending a hand of friendship. I think.”
He toured Howard, a historically black research university, Wednesday morning, where he met with students and faculty and had a formal meeting with Howard President Ben Vinson III.
“We were very conscious of the fact that we were there on Frederick Douglass’ birthday. The historical importance of Douglass to Howard and indeed to Ireland, the time he spent in Ireland, and the influence it has had on his own thinking. Howard University has a long-standing relationship with UCD in student mobility and we would like to see how that relationship grows and extends to other universities. We talked about it.
“I asked them for guidance on their expertise on race, inclusion and access to education, pointing out that Ireland is clearly a much more diverse and multi-ethnic country than it is now. How can they continue to be integrated into the education system and learn from Howard’s expertise?”
He is scheduled to meet US special envoy to Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy in Boston on Thursday, with student retention expected to come up in the discussion.
“There are still many students who leave Northern Ireland to study and then don’t come back. And I think it’s really important that we look at how we retain talent on the island of Ireland as well. ”
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