The chair of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee has said he regrets there wasn’t more “political leadership” on the Mercosur trade deal. “I regret that there wasn’t more political leadership and leadership generally on this matter,” Mr Lahart said. The changing geopolitical picture, he said, has resulted in “different perspectives on international trade, on different directions of international trade, on rapidly evolving interpretations of relationships that had previously been taken for granted as being solid and secure”. Mr Lahart, referring to the United States, said there is a “diplomatic dance going on because you have a major power acting in a particular way”. Mr Lahart said he personally supported the positions on the Venezuelan affair outlined by the Government and by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Source: The Irish Times January 12, 2026 20:18 UTC