On Tuesday, the 29th of July, the Student Neutrality Front (SNF) and Mothers Against Genocide (MAG) interrupted a keynote address by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Trinity College Dublin.
The speech and ensuing direct action took place during the O’Connell 250 Symposium in the Edmund Burke Theatre, commemorating the 250th birthday of Daniel O’Connell. The protest involved a confrontation outside of the theatre immediately before the speech between the Taoiseach and MAG, a disruption from SNF during Martin’s address, and a set of published demands from both groups. The action aimed to protest the Irish government’s role in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Before the speech, MAG confronted Martin, saying, “There’s been no sanctions yet. The children are starving…they are starving to death.” Martin responded, “We know that, yeah…We need the U.S. to leverage.” After being pressed, Martin added, “Our stuff isn’t going to change what’s happening.” MAG pushed for the Occupied Territories Bill (a proposed law aimed at banning trade with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories), and Martin stated: “I’ll talk to you another time if you wish.” In their press release, MAG noted that no meeting had been scheduled, despite repeated follow-ups.
During the speech, Nathan Hutchinson-Edgar, core SNF member and former Trinity student, interrupted Martin’s address: “You have turned your back on the people of Gaza! You have turned your back on the people of Palestine!” He cried, “If Daniel O’Connell was still alive today, he’d ask you why…18 months! 18 months into a genocide! You are still allowing military planes flying to Gaza through Shannon. Why is Ireland the second-biggest trade partner with Israel? Why is that?”
Martin’s speech was paused as Hutchinson-Edgar spoke, but continued after he was removed by staff. The action was filmed and shared on Instagram by @mothersagainstgenocide and @studentneutralityfront. In a press release, Hutchinson-Edgar stated, “Ireland may pretend to support Palestine, but while war planes fly through Shannon and our central bank sells Israeli war bonds, we remain complicit.” Continuing, “To invoke [O’Connell’s] name while supporting dehumanising genocide and starvation is a gross insult to his legacy.” MAG added, “We are appalled by the Taoiseach’s apathetic attitude to the most severe humanitarian crisis the world has ever seen…We demand meaningful action from the government. This includes enacting the Occupied Territories Bill, including a ban on services from Israel immediately, discontinuing the use of Shannon for the U.S. military, and cessation of the Irish Central Bank from facilitating the sale of Israeli war bonds.” They also called on Martin to “honour his office and sit down and talk”.
Speaking to the University Times, SNF member and former Trinity student Patrick Flynn described SNF’s five demands: first, to end all trade between Ireland and Israel; second, to end the Central Bank’s facilitation of Israeli war bonds; third, to ban U.S. military use of Shannon Airport and stop munitions from crossing Irish airspace; fourth, to halt Ireland’s alignment with NATO or EU battlegroups; and fifth, to maintain the Triple Lock for military deployment authorization. Flynn stated “no amount of logical argumentation or heartfelt appeals…will get through to this country’s government…we must make failure to meet our movement’s demands completely untenable.” He noted that the group aims to “[identify] which of the system’s cogs are within our reach [and] jam the whole machine.” He also underscored SNF as part of a larger anti-imperialist movement: “students can’t win this one alone”, citing “a lot of groundwork” and “humility to help wherever we can”. “Expect to see us leafleting. Expect to see us petitioning. Expect to see us protesting…If this sounds good to you, prospective reader, I’d love for you to get involved. There’s a lot that we can do together.” Flynn ended, expressing that “Micheál Martin seems to think that affairs in Ireland are of little global consequence. He’s in for a rude awakening”
The newly formed SNF was co-launched by Trinity BDS and Students4Change following Trinity’s recent divestment victory. Flynn and Hutchinson-Edgar are both prominent members. MAG is a collective of mothers and allies committed to ending genocide “through peaceful protest, education, and community action”, according to their website.
This is a developing story.
