Fianna Fáil councillors in Clare defy Government counterparts with motion seeking to prevent the funding of Israeli war bonds
At the June sitting of Clare County Council, Councillors Pat Hayes, Clare Colleran Molloy, David Griffin, Antoinette Baker Bashua, Rachel Hartigan, Rita McInerney, and Patrick O'Gorman sought a united stance from Clare County Council to 'call on the Ministers for Finance and Foreign Affairs to investigate and instigate appropriate actions that can be taken at National and European level to prevent the funding of Israeli war bonds'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
7 hours ago
- The 42
Open letter signed by players calls on GAA to end sponsorship deal with Allianz
AN OPEN LETTER was presented to the GAA yesterday at a protest outside Croke Park, calling on the association to end its sponsorship arrangements with insurance company Allianz. It's reported that over 800 current and former GAA players have signed the letter due to links between Allianz and Israel. Advertisement Letter signed by over 800 GAA former and current players was handed into GAA HQ this afternoon - as part of 'Drop Allianz' Campaign. Allianz's business relationships with Israel are enabling the genocidal and apartheid Israeli regimes across Palestine. — Irish Sport for Palestine (@Sport4Palestine) August 20, 2025 A report published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN listed Allianz among companies and corporations that was buying Israeli treasury bonds, which, the report argues, play a 'critical role in funding the ongoing assault on Gaza'. The report was written by UN special rapporteur (independent human rights expert) on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese. The 42 contacted the GAA for comment but did not receive a response at time of publication. Allianz, in a statement to The 42, said: 'Our long-standing partnership with the GAA is about supporting Irish sport and communities. 'Allianz Ireland is part of a global group, and while the wider group operates internationally across insurance and investment, as a matter of principle we do not comment on individual customers or business matters. 'What we can say is that all Allianz business decisions are guided by strict legal standards and world-leading ESG principles.'
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Israel's plan for massive new West Bank settlement would make a Palestinian state impossible
The Israeli government has approved a plan for construction of a massive new settlement bloc in the controversial E1 area in the occupied West Bank. In reviving a project first proposed in 1994, which will comprise about 3,500 new dwellings in a line across the West Bank, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich laid bare the intentions of his government. He declared that 'approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state, and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan'. E1 ('East 1') refers to 12 sq km of unsettled land east of Jerusalem. It sits inside the boundaries of the third most populous Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Ma'ale Adumim. In 1975, Israel expropriated 30 sq km of land on which seven Palestinian villages had once stood. Here they built Ma'ale Adumim, one of three Israeli settlement blocs that form an 'outer ring' around the Israeli-defined municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. Israeli authorities refer to these blocs as 'facts on the ground'. They were initiated in the West Bank by the Israeli government after the 1967 War to ensure that Israeli population centres were protected from potential attacks. Today, almost 40,000 Israelis live in Ma'ale Adumim – largely secular Israelis and diaspora Jews who have moved to Israel. Far from the makeshift Israeli outposts that are scattered across the rural West Bank, Ma'ale Adumim was designated a city by Israel in 2015. It is considered by the majority of Israeli Jews to be a permanently protected settlement bloc, which will be retained through land swaps in any final agreement with Palestinians. The E1 development plan would involve a significant expansion of the existing settlement. All settlement building in East Jerusalem and the West Bank is deemed illegal under international law, but the E1 plans are particularly controversial. At the heart of the controversy is the viability of a Palestinian state. Israeli construction in E1 would cut the West Bank into two separate parts, rendering it impossible to establish a contiguous Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. In addition, according to an objection lodged by the Israeli pressure group Peace Now, Israeli construction in E1 would negatively affect the economic development of a future Palestinian state. Its objection argues the E1 area is essential for expansion of an urban metropolis necessary for economic growth, and is the only land in East Jerusalem suitable for further development in the Palestinian part of the city. It states that E1 should therefore be left for Palestinian rather than Israeli development. Political threat The plan to develop E1 was first proposed in 1994 by Israel's then-prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, to make sure Ma'ale Adumim was part of a 'united Jerusalem'. This was subsequently reaffirmed by Shimon Peres during his prime ministership in 1996, as part of proposed territorial swaps in the framework of a permanent peace agreement. In 2005, those plans were frozen after the US administration under George W Bush told Israel that settlement in E1 would 'contravene American policy'. The plan was reignited by Israel's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in 2012, in retaliation for the United Nations' extension of non-member status to Palestine. But it was then put on hold for eight years due to international pressure. In 2020, a week ahead of the third national elections held in Israel in a single year, Netanyahu pledged to revive the E1 project, with the hope of securing votes and to court the ultra-nationalist parties into a potential coalition. In 2022, Netanyahu renewed the E1 construction plans, weeks before then-US president Joe Biden was due to visit Israel. Opposition and support Each time the plans have been proposed, the decision to advance construction has been met with both internal and international condemnation. On June 9 2023, the planning hearing was 'indefinitely' postponed following a call between Netanyahu and Biden's secretary of state, Antony Blinken. In response to the most recent announcement to reinstate the plans, the European Union put out a statement expressing concern. It urged Israel 'to desist from taking this decision forward, noting its far-reaching implications and the need to consider action to protect the viability of the two-state solution'. However, Donald Trump now appears to be breaking with the position of previous US administrations. It was recently reported in the Jerusalem Post that the Trump administration supports the reactivation of the development plans. A spokesperson for the US state department said 'a stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration's goal to achieve peace in the region'. Israel's latest attempt to initiate construction in E1 shows that, while the plans have consistently been delayed, they have never been abandoned. The question is why did Smotrich, with the apparent approval of Netanyahu, make this announcement now? The answer is most likely that, with the international focus firmly on the continued assault on Gaza, the Israeli government believes it has the breathing space to press ahead with its commitment to building settlements across the West Bank. Alongside the proposed Israeli takeover of Gaza City, the promise by Smotrich that 2025 would be Israel's 'Year of Sovereignty' — and with it the end of a future Palestinian state — appears to be coming ever closer. Leonie Fleischmann is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at City St George's, University of London The Conversation
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Sinn Féin to announce intentions around presidential election nomination next week
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is expected to announce her party's intentions around the presidency in the next week, with those who support Catherine Connolly 'anxiously' awaiting their decision. The party held an internal member consultation earlier this summer, with Mary Lou McDonald saying in July that all options including her own candidacy were on the table. Within the party, there is an expectation that an announcement will come some time next week, with some saying that the mood on Ms McDonald putting herself forward had shifted over the summer. One senior party source said that they would not have countenanced such a move at the beginning of the summer, but said their outlook was now "50/50". Should the party not run a candidate, it will back Galway West independent Catherine Connolly. Ms Connolly has the backing of Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and a range of other independents. Speaking on Thursday, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said Ms Connolly is the 'best-positioned progressive left candidate' to stop Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil from having their candidate win the race to the Áras. We think she has a real prospect of winning, Fundamentally, this election is going to be about which direction we want the country to go in. 'Do we want the Government to get away with abandoning all that is left of neutrality and ripping up the triple lock? Or do we want to defend neutrality in the triple lock? 'Do we want to have a Government which says some correct things in relation to Palestine, but then continues with complicity in terms of the Central Bank authorisation of the bonds, in terms of trying to water down the Occupied Territories Bill, in terms of the overflights that continue to happen? 'Do we want a Government that is very consciously seeking to accelerate the rise of rents, or a Government that puts the interests of renters, of homeless people, people who are trying to buy a house first? "It's about which direction the country is going in.' The comments come as Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin comes under pressure internally to name his party's candidate. Earlier this week, Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher called for a meeting urgently to discuss the forthcoming presidential election. Mr Martin has said he intends to update the party on its position towards the presidential election at the end of August, shooting down Mr Kelleher's suggestion. Several former Fianna Fáil politicians have expressed an interest in running for the party, including former ministers Mary Hanafin and Eamon Ó Cuiv. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has regularly been mentioned as a possible candidate, but has yet to declare an interest. One Fianna Fáil TD has, however, called for Mr Martin to run. Peter "Chap" Cleere told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that the Taoiseach would be "an excellent" president. The overwhelming majority of people that I speak to are saying that the man who should be our presidential candidate is our leader Micheál Martin. "My personal view is that Micheál [Martin] should put himself forward to be a presidential candidate. I know he'd have a phenomenal backing of the parliamentary party," he added. Mr Martin has, however, repeatedly ruled himself out of a run, saying that he is committed to his term as Taoiseach.
