The Russian administration was run by a drunken buffoon, Mr David Norris (Ind) declared when he joined with a Fianna Fail member in calling for action by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to help avert a human catastrophe in Grozny, the besieged capital of Chechnya.
The situation of Grozny was appalling, he said. There were reports that the Russian government had instructed citizens there to leave en masse. "For where? And if they don't get out, they are going to be bombed into the earth."
Mr Labhras O Murchu (FF) called for an urgent debate on the potential calamity. The pictures coming from Grozny were absolutely horrifying, he told the House. People there were living like animals in holes in the ground.
The threat by Russia to annihilate a whole community unless they deserted their homes was against all decency and international standards.
"I don't understand why the international community are remaining so silent. The rebuke today is too mild and it is sending out all the wrong signals. We may not be backed by military might in this case, but I think we will all be judged at the bar of history if we don't stand up and help these people immediately," Mr O Murchu added.
Responding, the deputy Government leader in the House, Mr John Dardis (PD), said he shared the Senator's horror at what was taking place in Chechnya, where there was a humanitarian crisis of the first magnitude. It was important they do whatever they could to alleviate that situation.
He would be passing on the senators' comments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews.