Today in the European Parliament, Vice President Timmermans said he was proud to be European because of our basic humanity in response to the refugee crisis and I was more than happy to also state that I was proud to be Irish when I see the emails coming to my office from Irish citizens offering rooms in their homes, vacant houses and other help for those fleeing war and persecution”.

"This was stated by Marian Harkin MEP during her speech on the refugee crisis in the European Parliament. She continued:-“Right now we need an emergency response and the EU Commission’s proposal to relocate 40,000 genuine asylum seekers to other Member States from Greece and Italy is necessary and proportionate. Yes, there are more long term matters to be dealt with but in any emergency you must act and act quickly.

“I also want to commend the proposal from Pope Francis that each parish in the EU would take in a family. This would be very important as it would help to guarantee acceptance into the local community and this is a crucial issue both in the short and long term”, Independent MEP Marian Harkin concluded.