A Galway-based academic has congratulated Green Party leader John Gormley for his comments about human rights abuses in Tibet, saying that China "will have to get used to the idea that concerned people around the world are going to rain on the parade as long as China doesn't make some dramatic changes."

Professor William Schabas.

Professor William Schabas of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, which is based at NUI, Galway, told the Galway Independent that Minister Gormley was right to make his views known on Tibet. However, he also pointed out that if Minister Gormley had referred to Tibet as a "country", as was reported, this would be a different matter.

"If that is the case, the Chinese ambassador's reaction has some legitimacy," explained Prof. Schabas. "If a Chinese official spoke of part of Ireland as a separate country and implied support for secessionist claims, I would hope the Irish ambassador would make his views known too. Assuming this was a slip of the tongue, John Gormley can easily set the record straight, and he should do so.

"Irish people, above all, should be sensitive to the validity of claims of self-determination for portions of a country's territory that were carved off as part of its independence struggle. Our focus should be on the human rights situation within Tibet," he added.

Galway's Green Party councillor, Niall O Brolcháin, responded to Prof. Schabas' views by saying Minister Gormley had not been "recognising Tibet as a country, as such," because "from a legalistic point of view, the foreign office doesn't."

"How do you refer to a place like Tibet? How would you refer to Scotland – would you refer to it as a country or as part of the United Kingdom?" asked Cllr O Brolcháin.

"We should focus on the human rights perspective and not be getting hung up on semantics," he added.

On the government's diplomatic position with regard to the Olympics, Cllr O Brolcháin said it was clear that the event of the Olympics had to be separated from the politics.

"We have to separate the event of the Olympics from the political pomp surrounding it. The Greens are 100 per cent behind our athletes," he said, going on to explain that the political showmanship of the opening ceremony was apart from the sporting side and should be treated as such.

Cllr O Brolcháin also explained that two members of the Chinese delegation had remained at the Green Party conference, after the ambassador and two aides left. The ambassador had previously been shown the content of Minister Gormley's speech.

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