We should help Obama to close Guantanamo

GIVEN that many EU member states were complicit in the process of extraordinary rendition, I believe EU countries, including Ireland, have a collective responsibility to accept a certain number of low-risk Guantanamo detainees from the US for resettlement within the EU.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has made such an acceptance conditional on getting EU approval. But it is not necessary for Ireland to wait for an EU direction to settle Guantanamo detainees. We can decide ourselves to sign a bilateral agreement with the US like Portugal has done.

The ministers for justice and foreign affairs have not been singing from the same hymn sheet on this matter, with Minister Ahern seemingly unprepared to go as far as Health Minister Micheál Martin regarding detainee settlement.