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Galway musician enters sixth day of hunger strike for Gaza

Galway musician enters sixth day of hunger strike for Gaza

Extra.ie​27-05-2025

A Galway-based musician is on the sixth day of her hunger strike as she demands the Government pass the Occupied Territories Bill.
Sophie Ní Choimín, 27, has said she is experiencing coughing, dizziness, body pain and hunger pains but 'will not eat again' until the people of Palestine do.
The Kildare native is the lead singer of Galway band Kettle Boilers, who have been fundraising for Palestine for the last year. A Galway-based musician is on the sixth day of her hunger strike as she demands the Government pass the Occupied Territories Bill. Pic: Sophie Ní Choimín/ Instagram
She says the fundraising efforts are no longer effective due to aid being blocked from Gaza as a result of the blockage imposed by Israel.
Speaking earlier in the week to the Irish Independent, Sophie said the hunger strike wasn't a decision she made lightly but she 'had to go for the most radical option without harming anyone.'
The United Nations has revealed that the people of Gaza are at 'critical risk of famine' with the latest update estimating that one in five people in Gaza face starvation. She says the fundraising efforts are no longer effective due to aid being blocked from Gaza as a result of the blockage imposed by Israel. Pic: Sophie Ní Choimín
Sophie began her hunger strike on Wednesday, May 21, and on Monday detailed how she had been suffering headaches and hunger pains and had also developed a chesty cough.
Speaking on Galway Bay FM, she said: 'Right now, my position is that I've to carry on for as long as I can because, whatever suffering I'm experiencing, it's only a fraction of what literal children are going through today.' View this post on Instagram
A post shared by D (@dswp24)
Sophie added that she is of the belief that the Government will 'gut' the bill and remove some services.
Getting emotional, she said: 'As an Irish woman, and as someone who loves this country.
'I just think it would be a great shame if one of the first European countries to experience Genocide didn't have the guts to speak up and speak first,' she added through tears.
'I'm actually a bit ashamed that Spain has acted before us.'

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