Europe Day: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-07 ============================================================ Chris Andrews (SF), Labour Panel I absolutely acknowledge that. I appreciate the Minister of State making the effort. He was here early this morning. What I am saying is not intended as a slight on him. It is just a pattern that needs to be addressed. On the EMI EU poll, Senator Lynch, who is a supporter of the European concept, highlighted some worrying trends. Along with the worrying figures that the Senator pointed out, the number of people who say that the EU is heading in the right direction has fallen from 58% in 2023 to 45% this year, with migration, economic and regulatory issues, federalism and national sovereignty among the top concerns. Roughly one third of those expressing concerns cited the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and to the Middle East conflict. That is obviously worrying. There are a lot of worrying figures in the poll. A hard look needs to be taken at the direction the EU is travelling in, because it seems to be travelling in a different direction from that in which the public wants to travel and in which it wants the EU to travel. One example of that trend in practice is the EU association agreement that will facilitate trade with Israel. Over recent weeks, I have heard the Government say that it is looking for the EU association agreement to be suspended. Will the Minister of State outline why the Government wants that? I presume it is because it wants to see some consequences regarding Israel's genocide in Gaza and the destruction of international law and order in which Israel is engaging. The Government is looking to suspend that association agreement. Is that the only way it can make Israel face consequences for its war crimes and for the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza? There are other ways. The occupied territories Bill is one way the Government could hold Israel to account and ensure that it faces consequences. However, that legislation seems to have gone on forever. There was a commitment just before the most recent election and then it was again given to the legal team, who seem to be able to hold it up forever. That is not the only way to hold Israel to account. Another way would be to stop the game between Ireland and Israel and ensure that Israel is not facilitated in the sportswashing of its genocide. When Russia invaded Ukraine, there were boycotts and bans against playing international matches. However, the Irish Government is going to welcome the Israeli team here with open arms. It seems to have no concerns about doing so. The Irish Government seems to be saying that responsibility lies with the FAI, when we all know that the FAI cannot make that decision on its own. If there were to be a ban and the FAI decided not to play the games against Israel, it would have to run that decision by the Government. Everybody knows that. The Government is, in some ways, looking to throw the FAI under the bus. The FAI does not have the backbone. James McClean, the Irish football legend, came out today and said that the Irish Government has no backbone. The FAI has no backbone. When you see what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank, and the ongoing treatment of Palestinians, it is hard to understand how the president of the FAI could sanction a game with Israel and consider going ahead with it. Palestinian footballers have been murdered by Israel. Some of those involved in murdering them could be part of the playing team or the support staff or they could be supporters attending the match. I have asked multiple times whether there is going to be any security screening of those participating in the game against Ireland on 4 October. Will there be any screening? Muhammad Khalifa came to Ireland when he was only a young fellow and played football against many clubs and with many clubs in Ireland. He travelled around the country playing football. He was murdered last year by Israel. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the child's murderer could be in the team or could be one of the supporters who come here to support Israel in the match against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium. Are people who were involved in genocide when serving in the Israeli occupying forces going to be able to come here and support their team without any security screening even though they have been complicit in genocide? Is the Government going to take any measures at all to ensure that genocide participants are held to account? When Russia invaded Ukraine, Poland refused to play Russia. There were no consequences for the Polish Football Association. When Ireland goes to play Israel, there will be no consequences for a team that has committed genocide. It is not right that the Government seems to be washing its hands of the decision in that regard. The FAI is ignoring Irish football. Irish Sport for Palestine issued a letter yesterday, signed by multiple current and former players, including Sophie Quinn, Brendan Clarke and Pico Lopez. It was signed by many great Irish footballers who are looking for the game to be stopped. We have to stop the game. The Government must intervene. It cannot just keep its head in the sand and pretend it has not instructed the FAI to play the game. The FAI would not play the game unless it were given the green light to do so by the Government. We need to ensure that we get answers to questions about how the Israeli team, players, supporters and support team will be security screened. It would be unforgivable if the Government were to allow Israelis to come and go as they wish and to sportswash the matter by means of this particular game. Contrast that with the actions of Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. He is showing real leadership. The Irish Government needs to show real leadership and stop the game. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-07/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-07