Irish Taoiseach turns his back on Catalonia.

Prehaps one of the saddest responses to the Referendum in Catalonia is the response from the Irish Taoiseach  who says Ireland will not recognise result of Catalonia's independence referendum.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

"The Spanish government needs to realise that violence against its citizens leads to further disunity “before anybody gets seriously injured or killed”, 

Responding to the violent scenes in the Catalonia region over the weekend, Mr Varadkar said his government does not accept the legitimacy of the independence referendum. he said

“The Irish government respects the constitution of Spain and the territorial unity of Spain.
“But I’d also like to say that violence is never justified. We know from history all over the world that when State actors, State police and the army, use violence against civilians that doesn’t work. It causes further division, further disunity and also causes radicalisation,”

 He said the less than half of the population of Catalonia participated in the vote “although admittedly it wasn’t easy for people to participate”.

Mr Varadkar said Spain is a “friend and ally” but “violence is never the solution”.

“I was distressed to see the scenes on television last night. To see this was happening in a European country.
“We know from history all over the world that when governments use violence against unarmed civilians it doesn’t work. It leads to radicalisation, it leads to further disunity and I sincerely hope the Spanish government will bear that in mind before anybody gets serious injured or killed,” .

Mr  Varadkar  is also of Indian heritage so should have  more than one experiance of the struggle against Imperialism  and the rights of Nations to Independence.

According to the Irish Times.

"There was a major row during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting over the Government response to the violent events surrounding the Catalonian independence referendum.
Independent Minister of State Finian McGrath demanded that the Government call in the Spanish ambassador to Ireland to convey condemnation of violence by Spanish police that left an estimated 900 people injured, according to the Catalan government.
It is understood Mr McGrath challenged Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney to intervene directly with the ambassador. Both the Taoiseach and Mr Coveney refused to do so.
There were heated exchanges between Mr McGrath and other Ministers. His argument about the violence was strongly supported by his Independent colleague Shane Ross and by Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty.
All Ministers agreed that the violence of the Guardia Civil was inappropriate and excessive. The police had tried to prevent Catalans from voting at schools and other buildings that had been designated as voting centres.

 Mr McGrath brought up the issue at the meeting after being asked to do so by Minister of State John Halligan. In an impassioned contribution he is understood to have said he had supported Catalonian independence for more than 20 years. He is said to have described the behaviour of the Spanish government as “appalling",

 The issue was also raised in the Dáil by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who pointed to a close connection between Fine Gael and Mr Rajoy’s ruling party. He asked Mr Varadkar to use his influence and connections with Mr Rajoy to get him to accept a mediation process. He also reiterated his support for Catalan independence.

As Catalonia looks for friends in what could see the "Heirs of Franco" posing even more draconian rule over them to stop Independence, it is sad that the leader of  of one of the Nations of Europe who have undergone a similar  struggle for Independence ,should turn his back on Catalonia in its hour of need.

It will be Interesting  how many leaders outside Spain will recognise   the expected deceleration of Catalonian Independence .

The Scottish and Flanders  parliament  may well do so alas Ireland will probably not join them as indeed our own Welsh Assembly will fail to do so.