FIANNA FÁIL TD URGES TAOISEACH TO EXPEL RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR AS MONAGHAN STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE

Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan/Monaghan Niamh Smyth has written a personal letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD asking him to expel Russian Ambassador to Ireland Yuri Filatov following his country’s commencement of military hostilities against Ukraine. Efforts to gather humanitarian aid for Ukrainian people impacted by the conflict got underway throughout Co Monaghan this week. In her letter, Deputy Smyth asks for the expulsion of the Russian Ambassador with immediate effect.

“I have not made this decision lightly but as a nation we should be proactive in our support of Ukraine and its people,” the Fianna Fáil TD wrote. “Through its brutal invasion of an independent country, Russia has smashed the democratic rights of all in the Ukraine nation. The death, destruction, inhumanity, pain and suffering inflicted upon its innocent people, especially defenceless women and children, cannot be tolerated or accepted in any guise.

“I welcome the Government’s allocation of €10 million for humanitarian action within the country, which shows our solidarity with the people. The EU economic package of measures will hopefully place pressure on oligarchs and individuals who supported the invasion. “However, I believe the immediate expulsion of Ambassador Yuri Filatov would emphasise our total condemnation of this brutal war, and our unity with Ukrainians. The heart-rending stories of…