Ireland is facing growing pressure over upcoming soccer matches against Israel after a Derry city councilor said he planned to publish the names of Israeli national team players he claimed had “participated in the genocide” in Gaza.
Shaun Harkin, a member of the People Before Profit party, made the comments during a City Council debate on a motion urging the Football Association of Ireland not to play two Nations League matches against Israel. The games are scheduled for Sept. 27 in Budapest and Oct. 4 in Dublin.
During the debate, Harkin also referred to the war in Gaza and Israel’s international activities, including the recent Gaza-bound aid flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces while attempting to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the territory, which he called “unacceptable.”
“Many teams refused to play South Africa and it had a massive impact on breaking and dismantling that regime. We should not be normalizing genocide,” he said, drawing a comparison with the international sporting boycott of apartheid-era South Africa
The issue has already spilled into Ireland’s stadiums. A friendly between Ireland and Qatar in Dublin was stopped twice after fans protested the upcoming matches against Israel. Supporters threw tennis balls onto the field, displayed a large banner reading “#StopTheGame,” chanted “Free Palestine” and waved Palestinian flags.
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Ireland supporters throw tennis balls onto the field during a match against Qatar in protest of the national team's upcoming games against Israel
(Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
Despite the protests, the Irish soccer federation has said it is determined to hold the matches as scheduled.
‘It's going to heat up’
Ireland midfielder Jamie McGrath said after the team’s 1-0 win over Qatar that he expects the protests and public pressure to intensify in the coming months.
“I'm sure it's going to heat up over the next few months,” McGrath told the BBC. “We don't want to be put into a position. Hopefully, the powers above us can work something out or use it for the greater good, I'm not sure what the process will be as it heats up.”
McGrath also referred to comments by Ireland captain Seamus Coleman, who said earlier this week that the situation “should have been dealt with above us.”
“I obviously listened to Seamus' interview and I think he was spot on,” McGrath said. “It's obviously a unique scenario.”
He said people had the right to protest as long as they stayed within the law. “The people [protesters], we have to listen to them, they have the right to do what they do, as long as it's done in a peaceful way, that's all that matters,” he said.
McGrath said the players themselves do not know how the situation will develop. “To be honest, I've no idea,” he said. “We obviously touched on it a few days, I'm sure as it heats up, it might be taken out of our hands, I'm not sure.”
'They would probably prefer a friendly match against Hamas'
The Israel Football Association expressed outrage over both the debate and the comments made during it. “We have no interest in the biased, hypocritical and agenda-driven discussion taking place among groups in Ireland that are hostile — and even more hostile — to the idea of the State of Israel, even if some people there tell themselves a different story,” the association said in a statement.
“They would probably prefer a friendly match against the Nazi terrorist organization Hamas. Those who remained silent in the face of the Oct. 7 massacre would do well not to preach morality to anyone in the world.”
The association said it would continue to deal only with the Football Association of Ireland. “We are dealing exclusively with the Irish Football Association. Everything else truly does not interest us,” the statement said. “People can stop contacting us with questions about the two matches — we will be there. And, of course, we will do our best to win. What the other side decides concerns us far less.”
The statement concluded: “Have a peaceful Sabbath, and we hope that greeting does not upset anyone.”