Taoiseach Micheál Martin will join EU leaders for a summit in Brussels this morning as Europe confronts a deepening series of challenges brought on by the Iran war.
As well as the growing energy crisis, leaders will address the continuing calls for support from the Trump administration to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Leaders are also expected to confront Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over his continued blocking of a €90 billion loan for Ukraine.
The challenges that EU leaders were supposed to be dealing with at today's summit - how to boost competitiveness, and reduce energy costs - have been overshadowed by the US-Israel attack on Iran, but they are also linked.
European leaders are still largely hostile to military support for Donald Trump’s war of choice - for many reasons, but not least because he consulted none of his European allies.
Yet, officials admit that saying this is not our war is not a long-term strategy if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and oil and gas prices continue to rise.
The EU is also increasingly angered by Israel’s assault on Lebanon, which has internally displaced a million people, and the European External Action Service called on Israel last night to cease its operations there.
Officials have pointed out the huge volume of missiles and drones that Iran has launched at tiny Gulf states, whose progress had been based on the notion that they were islands of stability in a turbulent region.
For this and other reasons, diplomats have said that Europe cannot simply wish the war away.
Of equal concern is Hungary’s continued blocking of €90bn in loans for Ukraine.
What makes this a deeply personal dispute is that Mr Orbán agreed to the loan in the presence of fellow leaders in December before reneging on it.
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