“On behalf of the Irish delegation, we are very pleased to be here in Georgia. We are particularly grateful to the Speaker for allocating much time for a discussion on Georgia’s accession to the European Union.

We are here to offer and insist on our enthusiastic support for your country, joining the union which we have benefitted so much in Ireland over the past 50 years. Fifty years ago when Ireland joined, we were the poorest country. Today, we are one of the wealthiest.

We are here also to take the opportunity of observing the work of the EU monitoring mission where the Irish civic experts are working to help peace and stability in your occupied territories.

We are very proud of what the Irish peacekeepers do internationally and we are very conscious of the need to resolve conflicts that exist in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

We say that coming from a country that was occupied for a period of 800 years and that had decades of murders and disorder that destroyed our tiny island.

This year we celebrate 25 years since the peace agreement arrived and some sort of normal politics and peace recommenced on the island. So, it is good to be here. We benefit enormously in Ireland from the inflow of Georgian citizens who are working in every part of our economy and making invaluable contributions to our economy and society, and we look forward to working with you as equal partners in growing and strengthening the European Union,” - Sean O’Farrell said.