Sports Events
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

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.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02