MINISTER FOR Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore hopes to be able to recognise a Palestinian state during his term in office, he told the Dáil. Mr Gilmore said, however, it would be “premature” to do so now “in advance of actual control of the territory in question, a condition to which we in Ireland attach great importance”.

At his first Dáil question time as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Gilmore said “the Palestinian leadership, while clearly working towards a declaration of a state in the near future, has not yet done so. The timing of such a declaration will be an important decision for them to take and may involve potential negative consequences.”

He said: “I very much hope to be able to extend Irish recognition of an actual functioning Palestinian state during my time in office.”

Sinn Féin foreign affairs spokesman Pádraig MacLochlainn had called on the Government to follow the recent example of a number of Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil and Chile, as well as EU member state Cyprus, in recognising a Palestinian state.

He said in 1988, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was ready to accept 22 per cent of traditional territory, but that was not accepted, which resulted in the “crises in Gaza and continued repression and control of the Palestinian people”.

Mr Gilmore said the Palestine Authority plan “to prepare for statehood is due to be completed this autumn”. An EU response would be “a key issue in discussions by EU foreign ministers”.

Mr Gilmore said he would take part in those talks and needed “to contribute positively to those discussions rather than to anticipate their outcome”.