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Ireland is close to formally recognizing a Palestinian state and would like to do so in concert with Spain and other like-minded countries, its new prime minister Simon Harris said on Friday after meeting his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, reported the Reuters news agency. “Let me this evening say our assessment is that that point is coming much closer and we would like to move together in doing so,” Harris said after meeting Sanchez, the first premier to visit Dublin since Harris became prime minister this week. “When we move forward, we would like to do so with as many...

The public has been repulsed by the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza, incoming Taoiseach (prime minister) Simon Harris has said. Mr. Harris said that Ireland stands ready to recognize the Palestinian state while calling for a two-state solution. In his keynote speech at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis* in Galway, the Fine Gael leader said the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened “before our eyes” and Ireland cannot stay silent on the actions of Israel. “We condemn the massacre carried out by Hamas in October and again call for the release of all hostages,” Mr Harris said....

LONDON (AP) – Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar who announced his surprise resignation last week. The 37-year-old Harris, who is the government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.

Minister for Health Simon Harris said that comments made by a Catholic parish group about IVF are ‘extremely hurtful’. Tullamore’s Catholic Parish Facebook group was used to warn its members that IVF was ‘incompatible’ with what it means to be a Catholic. The post also made comments about the affects of the treatment on the female reproductive system in the process. It read: ‘The process of IVF damages embryonic stem cells and thus life and is therefore completely, clearly and totally incompatible with our Catholic faith. ‘For all believers in God, all life is sacred at all times.’ According to...

The Minister for Health has said women in Northern Ireland will be able to access abortion services in the Republic when the legislation is introduced here. Speaking in Belfast this evening, Simon Harris said his concern for a woman’s right to access health services in crisis pregnancies situations does not stop at the border. He said while he respects the abortion law in northern Ireland, he hopes it is addressed in the near future. Britain’s Abortion Act does not extend to Northern Ireland and an abortion is only allowed if a woman’s life is at risk, or if there is...

Irish women are having abortions regardless of a near-total constitutional ban on terminating pregnancies, the country’s health minister said Tuesday in defense of a planned referendum that will ask voters whether the amendment should be repealed. Health Minister Simon Harris said on Ireland’s RTE television that he is beginning work on a proposed abortion law that would be submitted to parliament if the May referendum removes the constitutional ban. The legislation would allow abortions during the first trimester, he said. “Whether the Eighth Amendment is in our Constitution, or indeed not in our Constitution, abortion is a reality for Irish...