Last week I met with a woman, Michiko Tsukamoto, who is a survivor of the horrific nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, which together with the bombing of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 amount to an act of gratuitous mass murder by US imperialism, which was responsible for the deaths of over 200,000 people and the injuries of many hundreds of thousands more. They were acts, not designed to win a war that was already effectively won, but to send a chilling message around the world and to the Soviet Union in particular. She was here as part of a delegation from the Peace Boat, supported by Irish anti-war organisations, campaigning for the ratification of the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. Their demand is for Ireland to ratify as soon as possible. Will the prohibition of nuclear weapons Bill be brought before the Dáil before the end of the year?

That legislation is listed for the current parliamentary session.