Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told the United Nations General Assembly that the world risks slipping back into an order in which “might is right”.

He said that Russia, a founder of the UN and a full-time member of the Security Council, had acted in defiance of the organisation’s charter in its illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prosecuting the war with a willful and reckless indifference to its human consequences.

The country’s President, Vladimir Putin, was thumbing his nose at all attempts at a negotiated ceasefire, Mr Martin said, and there were no signs whatsoever that he was ready for peace.

Those in the coalition of the willing – 31 countries that have pledged strengthened support for Ukraine against Russian aggression – would stand with Kyiv for as long as it takes, he told the assembly.

Mr Martin described the situation in Gaza as a catastrophe of the most monumental and consequential kind.

He said it was not possible to describe the scale of the physical and psychological suffering endured by the Palestinian people for two long, brutal years.

Ireland, the Taoiseach said, stands in solidarity with them.

UN agencies and workers have been at the heart of efforts to preserve and sustain life and prevent the destruction of a people, Mr Martin said, and UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees, had been at the heart of this.

He also paid tribute to medics and journalists risking their own lives.

“What is happening in Gaza cannot be justified or defended. It is an affront to human dignity and decency,” Mr Martin said.

He described it as an abandonment of all norms, international rules and law.

Hunger was being used as an instrument of war, he added.

“Babies starving to death while aid rots at the border. People shot whilst desperately seeking food for their families.”

Mr Martin said that schools, hospitals, mosques and cultural institutions had also been targeted.

‘We cannot say we were not aware’

He described Gaza as an example of one of the world’s most modern and best-equipped armies brought to bear on a trapped and defenceless population.

Mr Martin said the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel was a montrous war crime.

The militant group, not the Palestinian people, was reponsible and it must answer for its crimes, he said.

The Taoiseach said that Hamas could have no role in the future governance of Palestine, but no crime, however heinous, could justify genocide.

He said it had been called out for what it was by a UN Commission of Inquiry.

Genocide was the gravest of crimes in international law, Mr Martin said, and all signatories to the Genocide Convention were obliged to act.

“We cannot say we were not aware,” he warned.

The Taoiseach said those providing Israel with the means necessary to prosecute its war also needed to reflect carefully on the implications and the effects on the Palestinian people.

Mr Martin called for an immediate ceasefire and for those involved to be held accountable.

A two-state solution remained the only prospect for a peaceful future, he said, as he commended the counties that had recognised the State of Palestine.

The Taoiseach said that he was deeply concerned by the constant push back on human rights norms that has accelerated in recent years, including the Taliban, for its denial of the most fundamental human rights for women and girls in Afghanistan.

He said that Ireland would compete for a seat on the Human Rights Council from 2027 to 2029.

Conflict was a sign of human failure that could take generations to heal, Mr Martin said, and pointed out that the Irish and British governments had agreed a new framework for addressing the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Remembering members of the Irish Defence Forces who had paid the ultimate price, Mr Martin said that continued support for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was essential over the next 15 months to support the efforts of the Lebanese authorities given the complexity and scale of the conflict in the region.

The Taoiseach said the world had also failed Sudan, to our collective shame.

He warned that the human catastrophe in the African country risked wider instability in the region and must be stopped, including the perpetrator of war crimes.

If UN falters, ‘leaders have let it down’

The Taoiseach said the UN continues to represent the best of humanity and, if it falters, “it’s because we as leaders have let it down”.

He said that, 80 years ago, the world was emerging from the most savage conflict in its history with 80 million people lying dead after a deliberate, industrial-scale genocide saw six million people murdered, which he called a monstrous crime that remains unsurpassed in human history.

People were targeted for death because of their ethnic identity, sexual orientation or disability, Mr Martin told the assembly.

He said that when humanity had descended into an abyss, the UN was the phoenix that rose from that darkness as the best attempt to maintain peace and national security, offering a different path for humanity.

Mr Martin called on world leaders to assert and reinsist on the primacy of international cooperation.

Since Ireland joined the UN in 1955 it had been the cornerstone of the country’s foreign policy, he added, and there was no other country more committed to its values.

A 20-year-old University of Edinburgh student slipped and fell to her death while walking at the side of a “huge puddle” on a muddy part of a trail beside the cliff edge at the Cliffs of Moher in May 2024, an inquest has heard.

At the Clare Coroner’s Court in Kilrush today, three college friends of the late Roxan Bastaens gave eye-witness testimony of Ms Bastaens’s final moments before she fell to her death at Ireland’s most popular natural tourist attraction.

Ms Bastaens was weeks away from celebrating her 21st birthday in June of last year.

At the inquest, County Coroner Isobel O’Dea gave a verdict of ‘accidental death’ concerning Ms Bastaens losing her life near Hag’s Head at the Cliffs of Moher.

Members of Ms Bastaens’ family had travelled to Kilrush for the inquest.

Ms O’Dea told them: “Unfortunately we have a number of deaths at the Cliffs of Moher each year and this was an absolute accident.”

Ms O’Dea said that the post-mortem examination found Ms Bastaens died as a result of poly trauma as a result of a fall from a height.

Ms O’Dea told the family members that Ms Bastaens’s death “would have been instantaneous and she wouldn’t have suffered”.

One of two accidental deaths in 2024

Ms Bastaens’s death was one of two recorded accidental deaths at the Cliffs of Moher in 2024.

On 23 July 2024, a 12-year-old boy, Zhihan Zhao slipped in a puddle close to the edge of the Cliffs of Moher before falling over the edge to his death.

In relation to Ms Bastaens’s death, the inquest heard that four female friends, two French, one Italian and Belgian national, Ms Bastaens were spending their academic year at the University of Edinburgh and arrived into nearby Doolin the night before with the intention of hiking in the area.

Italian-born college student, Guilia Bracchi was walking behind Ms Bastaens when she fell.

None of three eye-witnesses were present in Kilrush today but in her deposition to gardaí read out at the inquest by Inspector Ronan McMahon, Ms Bracchi said that there was a “big puddle” in the middle of the trail as they walked south in the direction of Hag’s Head away from the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre.

The four were walking the trail for about one hour before stopping for lunch at around midday and continued walking after their lunch.

‘It all happened so fast’

Ms Bracchi said that “the trail was protected at the beginning but later on it got slippery and there was no barrier”.

Ms Bracchi said that conditions were calm and she said: “We all had hiking boots on. It was not difficult.”

After 1pm on Saturday 4 May 2024, Ms Bracchi said they walked single file as they approached “the big puddle” with Ms Bastaens and Catherine Didier walking in front of her.

Ms Bracchi said: “I had seen lots of people walking in exactly the same way before us.”

Ms Bracchi said that “there were hundreds of people on the Cliffs. The impression was that the trail was safe”.

Ms Bracchi said that Ms Bastaens had her camera in her hand and was looking at her steps as she walked around the puddle.

She said that she saw Ms Bastaens’s foot going to the side where the trail was muddy and “she fell forward and she started tumbling down and I tried to catch her but I couldn’t. It all happened so fast.”

French-born student Ms Didier was walking in front of Ms Bastaens, and Ms Didier said when they came to the puddle, “we walked in a single line on the cliff side of the puddle”.

She said: “I walked past the puddle no problem. I balanced and I didn’t slip – I had to be careful. When I passed the puddle I turned around and I saw Roxan slipping off the edge. I tried to lean towards her to catch her but she was too far away – I got an awful fright, I started panicking.”

She said: “I didn’t want to look over the edge so I didn’t want to see her fall into the water. Then we started calling people for help and we called the emergency services.”

The fourth student on the trip, Prune Dussud said that when they came to “a huge puddle, we came to walk on the cliff side of the puddle”.

She said: “At this point I was looking down at my feet. I heard my friend Guilia gasp. When I looked up I was aware that Roxan had fallen. Everything had happened so quickly. I am not sure how it happened.”

She said: “One second Roxan was there and the next she was gone.”

Remains brought to Doolin Coastguard unit

Garda Sarah Tubritt told the inquest that she was alerted to a female falling off the Cliffs of Moher at 1.25pm.

Ms Bastaens’s remains were recovered from the water at 3.10pm by the RNLI boat launched from the Aran Islands and the unit brought the body to the station of the Doolin Coastguard unit and Ms Bastaens was officially pronounced dead there.

The R1115 coastguard helicopter also assisted in the search and Garda Tubritt said that the body was seen falling off the Cliffs in the vicinity of Hag’s Head near Slattery’s Quarry.

At the conclusion of the Insp Ronan McMahon told family members that Gardai would escort them to the Cliffs of Moher if they wished.

He said: “Ye won’t be able to go to the exact spot as it is fenced off. It is very hard to explain to you about the height of the cliffs and the terrain there.”

Ms O’Dea said that Ms Bastaens’s blood sample was negative for any alcohol or drugs.

On 22 August of last year, the Clare Local Development Company closed off large sections of part of the Cliffs of Moher trail and it remains closed off today due to continuing safety concerns.

At the time, the Clare Local Development Company confirmed that it was taking the action following the two recent fatal accidents on the Cliffs of Moher trail.

Carmel Askin never foresaw herself being homeless in retirement.

In the last 18 months, the 66-year-old has moved house five times.

Unable to afford accommodation in Galway, she turned to her previous occupation to become a live-in carer.

However, it has been precarious.

When a person she had been looking after died, Carmel had to find accommodation somewhere else.

Rents were unaffordable, so she declared herself homeless with the Council in Galway and contacted Galway Simon Communities for support.

The charity helped her find accommodation to rent, but Ms Askin could not sustain the payments after six months.

Her only choice was to return to caring and to live with older people requiring support.

Two weeks ago, she moved into the home of a woman who she is helping in exchange for accommodation.

Speaking at an event held by the Simon Communities in Galway as part of a week-long campaign highlighting homelessness, she outlined the physical and mental toll.

“In my last job, I was burned out at the end. I had come to the end regarding the amount I could give. My body was exhausted.”

The average rent in Galway is €2,300 per month, and with little to no HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) properties available, an increasing number of people like Ms Askin are “couch surfing”.

“Even in just the few months since I’ve started looking the rents have gone up, so even with HAP I wouldn’t be able to afford them,” Ms Askin said.

These people are not included in the monthly homeless figures released by the Department of Housing each month, because they relate solely to people living in emergency accommodation.

Latest figures show that 16,353 were recorded as homeless in August.

It is an increase of 295 on the previous month, and 131 of those are children.

People over 65 make up a small cohort of the overall homeless figures, however, Executive Director Simon Communities Ireland, Ber Grogan, has pointed out that just a number of years ago, child homelessness was in the hundreds.

There are now 5,145 children recorded as living in Emergency Accommodation.

Therefore, the Simon Communities said action is required now to tackle over 65s becoming homeless, before the situation gets out of control.

According to the CSO, the older population of 781,400 recorded in 2022 will grow to over 1.94 million by 2057.

Chief Executive of Alone, Seán Moynihan, has pointed out that the number of over-65s renting went up 83% in the last census, and it’s becoming an increasing issue for the charity.

At the Simon Communities event in Galway, it was also pointed out that gender must also be taken into account because women are more likely to take time out of the workforce to become carers.

This puts them at more risk of homelessness.

Ms Askin does not know what the future holds. She is not convinced that she will ever be able to afford rent in the current climate, never mind a home of her own.