logo
Thousands attend pro-Palestinian rally in Dublin

Thousands attend pro-Palestinian rally in Dublin

BreakingNews.ie7 days ago
Thousands of people have taken part in a pro-Palestinian rally calling on the Irish Government to implement sanctions on Israel.
Saturday's rally saw demonstrators march from the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square to Leinster House.
Advertisement
It was the 16th such demonstration since October 2023 and came after the Dáil rose for the summer recess.
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) accused the Irish Government of an 'absolute refusal to hold Israel accountable for a genocide in which the Apartheid state has slaughtered more than 58,000 Palestinians'.
The march demanded an end to the Central Bank of Ireland's role in approving Israel Bonds for sale in the EU, for the Government to include services in the Occupied Territories Bill and to pass that legislation.
It also called for an end to the use of Irish airspace for the transport of weapons to the region.
Advertisement
The group also criticised the Government after 33 Palestinian children were recently denied entry to Ireland over visa issues.
GAA Palestine said it had to take the 'heartbreaking' decision to cancel a planned Irish tour for the children.
Speaking ahead of the protest, IPSC chairperson Zoe Lawlor said: 'The Irish government is barely lifting a finger to end Ireland's deep complicity in this genocide.'
Ms Lawlor added: 'On top of this we have the appalling spectacle of the state refusing visas to child medical evacuees and Palestinian kids to visit Ireland to play our national sports.'
Advertisement
Stretching along Molesworth Street in front of Leinster House was a 120ft long and 5.5ft wide quilt, made up of 2,300 panels.
Each panel – the vast majority of which were knitted by hand – is designed to represent the deaths of 10 children in Gaza, adding up to a total of 23,000 children.
Anna Doyle and Niamh Bonner, from Craftivism For Gaza, said they are still accepting squares as the death toll continues to rise.
Ms Doyle told the PA news agency: 'Each square represents 10 children. Their voices have been lost to the world forever.
Advertisement
'It also represents the voice of the crafter because most of them are made by people who wouldn't be able to come to a protest.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Von der Leyen to meet Trump in Scotland as EU and US close in on trade deal
Von der Leyen to meet Trump in Scotland as EU and US close in on trade deal

The Guardian

time4 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Von der Leyen to meet Trump in Scotland as EU and US close in on trade deal

The EU appears to be on the verge of signing a trade deal with Donald Trump after the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced she would meet the US president on Sunday during his four-day trip to Scotland. Trump landed in Scotland on Friday evening before the opening of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. He said he was also planning to meet the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, on Saturday. The European Commission said von der Leyen's visit would be at Trump's invitation. Ireland's taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said on Friday a deal would 'hopefully be signed off before the weekend is over'. After getting off Air Force One, Trump described von der Leyen as a 'highly respected woman', said there was a 'good 50-50 chance' for a deal, and said the 'sticking points have to do with maybe 20 different things'. He said it 'would be the biggest deal of them all if we make it'. Trump heaped praise on Starmer and Scotland's first minister, John Swinney, and said the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was 'a team player' but that France's planned recognition of Palestine as a state would not 'carry any weight'. Trump said he was looking forward to meeting Swinney. Before boarding the presidential plane, he told journalists: 'The Scottish leader is a good man, so I look forward to meeting him.' He said he had a 'lot of love' for Scotland. Trump hinted he was looking for more concessions from the EU, saying Japan had had a worse chance than Brussels of getting a deal but succeeded after offering more to the US. He also criticised what he called 'the windmills' – windfarms – which he claimed were 'ruining your beautiful fields and killing your birds', and hit out at the level of immigration in the EU, saying it was an 'invasion' which was 'killing Europe'. Von der Leyen said she 'had a good call' with Trump before he landed in Scotland and they had 'agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong'. Trump would not meet von der Leyen unless a deal was ready to be signed, sources have said. He also hinted he was ready to widen the deal he had already agreed with the UK, fuelling speculation he could finally eliminate the 25% tariff he imposed on steel. 'This week we want to talk about certain aspects [of the trade deal] which are going to be good for both countries; more fine tuning. We are also going to be doing a little celebrating together because, you know, we get along very well,' he said. 'We are going to have a good time, I think. The prime minister and I get along very well; the Scottish leader too, we have a lot of things, my mother was born in Scotland, and he's a good man, the Scottish leader … so I'm looking forward to meeting him.' Asked about a trade deal with the EU, he said: 'I would say that we have a 50/50 chance, maybe less than that … I would have said we had a 25% chance with Japan, and they kept coming back and we made a deal.' The EU is resigned to an agreement in principle on 15% baseline tariffs, including on cars, which will make brands from Volvo to Volkswagen more costly for US traders to import than Range Rovers from Britain, which carved out a deal allowing 100,000 cars a year to be imported to the US at a 10% tariff. On Friday, Volkswagen laid bare the cost of Trump's import tariffs saying it had taken a £1bn hit in the first half of the year as a direct result. Trump struck a deal with Starmer in May, reducing tariffs on cars from 27.5% to 10% in exchange for increases in UK imports of beef and ethanol. While it is being seen as a clever move by Starmer, the ethanol industry says it is fighting for survival against US ethanol, which is used in E10 biofuel in filling stations around the UK. The president of the National Farmers' Union, Tom Bradshaw, said his 'biggest worry' was that Starmer would sell farmers out by allowing in US dairy products. 'We understand the US is pushing very, very hard for dairy access, and for us that is a real red line as they use hormones that we stopped using in dairy production 30 years ago.' He said the farming sector could not 'give any more' and warned Starmer not to sacrifice agriculture. Before boarding Air Force One, Trump claimed he would have sealed deals with nearly all of the 60 countries he threatened with punitive tariffs by next Friday, his self-imposed deadline for agreements. He said he had not 'really had a lot of luck with Canada' but he was not focused on it, and rather was 'working very diligently with Europe, the EU' to get a deal.

Michael Flatley revealed as surprise contender to challenge Connor McGregor for Irish presidency after Lord of the Dance's political ambitions were inadvertently disclosed in High Court planning battle
Michael Flatley revealed as surprise contender to challenge Connor McGregor for Irish presidency after Lord of the Dance's political ambitions were inadvertently disclosed in High Court planning battle

Daily Mail​

time5 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Michael Flatley revealed as surprise contender to challenge Connor McGregor for Irish presidency after Lord of the Dance's political ambitions were inadvertently disclosed in High Court planning battle

Iconic Riverdance star Michael Flatley could challenge MMA champion Conor McGregor in a bid to become the next president of Ireland. The Lord of Dance's political ambitions were revealed during a High Court planning battle concerning his Castlehyde mansion in Cork. Flatley, 67, who held the Guinness World Record for tap dancing 35 times per second, notified the court of a 'material change in circumstances'. In doing so, he gave away his plan to move back to Ireland to run in the October 2025 presidential elections. An affidavit, signed by Flatley's solicitor Maxwell Mooney, was submitted to the court stating that the Irish-American is 'to seek nominations to run for president of Ireland'. But he's not the only celebrity running for president. In March, days after a controversial trip to the White House Conor McGregor, 37, announced his bid to become Ireland's President. The MMA fighter, who was found to have raped a woman in a civil case in November, announced his plans with an Instagram post which shows him standing in front of a private jet and wearing a Make Ireland Great Again cap. Riverdance star Michael Flatley (pictured) is to seek a nomination to become Ireland's next president It came after he spoke of an 'illegal immigration racket ravaging our country' at the White House. Meanwhile, last week on a radio interview, Flatley said he did not believe the Irish people 'have a voice, not a true proper deep voice that speaks their language.' But the face off may not happen as it is unclear if Flatley will have sufficient support and if McGregor will clear the threshold necessary to qualify for the race. Candidates need to be nominated by at least 20 members of the Irish parliament or at least four local authorities. They must also be an Irish citizen who is 35 or older. The role of president is mainly ceremonial but carries symbolic weight. The next election has to happen 60 days before the current President Michael D Higgins's term ends on November 11. So far, two candidates have secured sufficient backing to enter the race. McGregor announced the plans in an Instagram post where he is stood ahead of a private jet and wearing a Make Ireland Great Again cap Former farming journalist and EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness, who is the Fine Gael nominee. And Catherine Connolly, a left-wing independent and former Galway mayor who has received the backing of opposition parties and independents. At the High Court on Friday, defence barristers in Flatley's case argued against the affidavit being accepted by the court, and stated that it was an attempt by Flatley to 'move the goalposts'. Andrew Fitzpatrick SC said Flatley had said before in 2024 that he intended to move to Paris and then Valencia. 'That didn't happen,' he told the court. He also said that if the court was prepared to admit the affidavit, it would undermine previous assertions made by Flatley's side that the reason he is living in Monaco and cannot return to the state is because of the condition of the Castlehyde. Ms Justice Eileen Roberts said that as Flatley's residence 'is so central to the issue of security of costs' in the case, she would allow the affidavit to be taken into account, but said she 'entirely' heard submissions made by the defence about the characteristics of the affidavit and what weight it should be afforded. She said she expected the judgment in relation to the costs application to be delivered in a 'reasonably short period', and that it would be given 'shortly after' the end of the courts term.

Israel trying to deflect blame for widespread starvation in Gaza
Israel trying to deflect blame for widespread starvation in Gaza

The Guardian

time6 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Israel trying to deflect blame for widespread starvation in Gaza

Israel is pursuing an extensive PR effort to remove itself from blame for the starvation and killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is responsible. As dozens of governments, UN organisations and other international figures have detailed Israel's culpability, officials and ministers in Israel have attempted to suggest that there is no hunger in Gaza, that if hunger exists it is not Israel's fault, or to blame Hamas or the UN and aid organisations for problems with distribution of aid. The Israeli effort has continued even as one of its own government ministers, the far-right heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, appeared to describe an unapologetic policy of starvation, genocide and ethnic cleansing that Israel has denied and said is not official policy. Amid evidence of a growing number of deaths from starvation in Gaza, including many child deaths, and shocking images and accounts of malnutrition, Israel has tried to deflect blame for what has been described by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) as 'man-made mass starvation'. That view was endorsed in a joint statement this week by 28 countries – including the UK – which explicitly blamed Israel. 'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,' the statement said. 'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazan's of human dignity. 'We condemn the drip-feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.' Some Israeli officials have been marginally more cautious in public statements, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has promised vaguely that there 'will be no starvation' in Gaza. But a recent off-the-record briefing for journalists by a senior Israeli security official has pushed a more uncompromising position, stating that there 'is no hunger in Gaza' and claiming that images of starving children on front pages around the world showed children with 'underlying diseases'. David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesperson, told Sky News this week: 'There is no famine in Gaza – there is a famine of the truth.' Contradicting that claim, Médecins Sans Frontières said a quarter of the young children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers it had screened at its clinics last week were malnourished, a day after the UN said one in five children in Gaza City were suffering from malnutrition. Israel's attempts to deflect blame, however, are undermined by its single and overarching responsibility: that as an occupying power in a conflict, it is legally obliged to ensure the provision of means of life for those under occupation. And while Israel has consistently tried to blame Hamas for intercepting food aid, that claim has been undermined by a leaked US assessment, seen by Reuters, which found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group of US-funded humanitarian supplies. Examining 156 incidents of theft or loss of US-funded supplies reported by US aid partner organisations between October 2023 and May 2025, it said it found 'no reports alleging Hamas' benefited from US-funded supplies. Israel has also recently intensified efforts to blame the UN for the problems with aid distribution, citing a 'lack of cooperation from the international community and international organisations'. Israel's claims are contradicted by clear evidence of its efforts to undermine aid distribution. Despite international warnings of the humanitarian risks posed by banning Unrwa, the main UN agency for Palestinians and the organisation with the most experience in Gaza, from Israel, its operations were closed down, complicating aid efforts. Instead Israel, backed by the US, has relied on the private, inexperienced and controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation; its sites have been the focus of numerous mass killings of desperate Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. Israel's attempts to hamper with aid efforts have continued. Last week it said it would not renew the work visa of Jonathan Whittall, the most senior UN aid official in Gaza; and a UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, told reporters on Thursday that Israel had rejected eight of the 16 UN requests to transport humanitarian aid in Gaza the previous day. He added that two other requests, initially approved, led to staff facing obstruction on the ground as he described a pattern of 'bureaucratic, logistical, administrative and other operational obstacles imposed by Israeli authorities'. All of which has injected a new sense of urgency into the catastrophe in Gaza as UN agencies warned that they were on the brink of running out of specialised food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children. 'Most malnutrition treatment supplies have been consumed and what is left at facilities will run out very soon if not replenished,' a WHO spokesperson said on Thursday. More starvation deaths appear inevitable.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store