Cowen meets Israel Foreign Minister

Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen has met his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom, in Dublin this morning.

The two men are believed to have discussed Israeli-EU relations and the stalled Middle East peace process.

Amnesty International had called on Mr Cowen to raise a number of issues including the construction of the controversial Israeli "security barrier" on Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

Speaking after today’s talks, Mr Shalom claimed the only purpose of the wall was to protect Israelis from Palestinian suicide bombers.