Seen as radical abroad but conservative at home, Ireland stands alone on Gaza

Ireland has become something of an outlier across Europe in its statements on the violence in Gaza, being the loudest voice in the EU calling for a ceasefire, while domestically the Government has been criticised for not imposing sanctions on Israel

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip last month. Since the early days of the Israeli retaliation, Ireland's acceptance of Israel's right to defend itself has been tempered by a caveat that this did not offer Benjamin Netanyahu's government carte blanche to kill civilians. Photo: AP/Ariel Schalit

Ireland, being an island, is used to standing alone, geographically, but we rarely have found ourselves out of step geopolitically in recent times.

We are, after all, a member of the "rules-based order", free marketeers, democratic and outward-looking.