2026-07-02

9. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether she has held any meetings on the Ireland-Israel match. [49388/26]

I believe these games should not go ahead. There has been a call to stop the games. The Palestinians have said that there should be a ban on all sporting engagements with Israel. There should be an outright boycott until such time as the people of Palestine are given the freedom, respect and rights they deserve.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which follows on from the discussion I have just had with Deputies O’Gorman and Ó Murchú. National governing bodies, NGBs, of sport and international sporting federations, including the FAI, are independent, autonomous bodies responsible for the governance of their own sports, including the organisation of sporting fixtures. The Government and Sport Ireland have no role in determining or supporting the organisation of such fixtures, and I have not had meetings to discuss Israel-Ireland soccer matches. We respect the decision made by the FAI and will continue to work closely with it, through the Minister for sport, and engage with it on any matters of concern. Of course, we continue to have significant concerns about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, with intolerable conditions that are only getting worse. Israel must immediately remove restrictions on aid access and facilitate essential supplies and services to reach people across the Gaza Strip. More broadly, it must completely cease the actions it is taking in the West Bank and Lebanon. We are deeply concerned by the sharply deteriorating situation in the West Bank, in particular the massive expansion of settlements and the rampant and escalating settler violence, which continues in an atmosphere of impunity. Our voice has been consistent in our calls for appropriate actions in response to Israeli breaches of human rights and democratic principles, and we are trying to use all the tools at our disposal - political, legal and diplomatic - to advocate for peace, accountability and an end to the Israeli Government’s devastating policies in Gaza and the West Bank. In addition to supporting an EU-wide prohibition on trade, our long-standing position is that the EU-Israel Association Agreement should be suspended or, at a minimum, that the trade elements should be suspended. A number of member states have called for stronger collective EU action. I welcome the commitment by the Commission to bring forward a list of options for consideration at the July Foreign Affairs Council, which will take place on 13 July.

The Minister said that Sport Ireland and the Government had no part to play. That is not accurate. In 1999, the then Government put off a match against Yugoslavia. The precedent has been set, and the Government should step in. It is very unfair of the Government to put all the blame on the FAI and let it carry the can. The FAI has previously made clear its position on playing matches with Israel, but now it has been pushed into a corner. The manager of the team has said: “[I]t's unfair for the players to be in this position and us to be in this position.” Seamus Coleman, one of the longest serving and most decorated Irish footballers, a man who leads by example, said: My views are very clear on the fact that Nathan and the younger players, and Ireland, the fans, the manager, it should not have landed on our toes to answer questions about this. It should have been dealt with above us

The Deputy is right in that sense, but “above us” is talking about UEFA. I fully accept that the FAI has pressed for the exclusion of Israel from UEFA, and it is its right to do so. However, there is a lack of consensus among UEFA members beyond that and, indeed, among international sporting bodies more generally in relation to the exclusion of Israel from international sporting competitions. Similar to the Council, where there is a very clear view from a number of member states, including Ireland, that we need to take stronger action and go as far as suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, there are other member states that do not agree with that. For that reason, we have not been able to reach a consensus. I know that other countries, such as Russia and Belarus, have been excluded from international sporting events, but this is because there was a consensus among the international sporting bodies. I believe it is for the organisations, working with their parent bodies and the international organisations, to raise concerns and to be able to discuss this and vote on it. What is very clear, though, is that there is no consensus. I believe views and positions are changing, given what we see from the Israeli Government with the introduction of the death penalty, which is very clearly targeting Palestinians; the worsening humanitarian situation; and the continuing escalation of settler violence. Even with the discussions on the ceasefire in Lebanon, there is clearly still activity happening on the ground, where citizens are not able to return home. I believe that things are changing and that the view of many countries, including the US, as we have heard, is shifting. However, we cannot as a Government tell UEFA or the other sporting organisations what they should be doing. I fully respect and take into account the position of our own sporting organisations and the view that they have expressed. I fully support their actions.

I will finish the quote from Seamus Coleman when speaking to Tony O’Donoghue of RTÉ. He said: “I am a dad, I am a husband, I've got a heart, I know the difference between right and wrong.” The Minister said that the decision was with the FAI, not the Government. It is not. Deputy McEntee is the Minister. She is in the Government. It is up to the Government to make the decision and to take it away from the players and the FAI. A precedent has been set, but it should happen even if there was no precedent. The Minister mentioned Russia and Belarus. That shows the double standards. She said that we had to have agreement between all of the other countries. No, we do not. The Irish Government needs to say “No”. We are against genocide. We are against people in the West Bank being driven from their homes and murdered. As the Minister said in response to a previous question, there are over 1 million illegal settlers in the West Bank. There is a genocide in Gaza that continues to this day, with over 70,000 people killed, yet we are waiting for consensus. Consensus from who? The Israeli Government has so much power in its lobby that there will never be consensus. Ireland needs to lead the way. Ireland needs to say that these games must stop, and all games with Israel must stop. We should not be involved in any sport or any economics. We should say to them that unless the genocide stops and the Palestinians are given their rights, Ireland will not take part with Israel. We should do everything to ensure that no other European country, or any country in the world, does that.

Ireland has led. The Deputy might not agree with me, he might not believe that, but Ireland has led and we are leading. I would say that the FAI is leading in that regard as well. It has made its position very clear, and I support the position that it has taken. I support the views that it has, but that is the position it has taken. It is not the position that UEFA as a whole has taken. It is not for the Irish Government to decide what matches happen, where they happen or whether they are cancelled or otherwise. That is a decision taken by the governing bodies. My colleague, the Minister for sport, will continue to engage with those bodies and organisations. Our objective as a Government is to make sure that the action we take at Government, Council and European levels has the effect we all want. Of course we oppose genocide. Any suggestion to the contrary is so off the mark-----

I did not say that.

Of course we oppose genocide and what is happening on the ground. I do not think we can be any clearer about what is happening. We have joined the South African case. There is a court process and international legal process when it comes to recognising genocide. We have joined that because we believe that is clearly the right thing to do. One only has to look at the UN report on children, which was very clear that children were being targeted. We want to ensure that the actions of the Israeli Government are changed and we do everything we can in that regard. I have made my view on the position taken by the FAI very clear. There is no consensus at European level that would ban or stop Israel from competing in these games. It is then a decision as to whether our teams would pull out. It is not for me as Minister to tell a team that it should not play or what it should do. That has to be a decision taken by the sporting body and players in the organisation.