When the Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin recently stood up and announced to the Dail that Ireland would officially recognise a Palestinian state ‘within a matter of weeks’, there were no sharp intakes of breath or fits of fainting in the chamber.
Irish political parties have long been relatively united in their calls for full recognition of a Palestinian state. But this was the first time there had been an explicit statement of intent, and within a specific timeline.
Relations between Ireland and Israel have traditionally been poor since diplomatic ties were established in 1975. But events since October 7 (which many Irish politicians seem to have conveniently forgotten) have plunged those relations into freezing territory.
There have been repeated calls in the Dail to expel the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, and to permanently shutter the Israeli embassy, while also ceasing all diplomatic, official, cultural and economic relations. That isn’t just a boycott, it’s effectively a call for a complete blockade.
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