Legal bid to compel Government to suspend military-related trade with Israel filed in High Court
Irish
Government
to suspend military-related trade with
Israel
and stop flights transporting weapons to the Israeli army through Irish airspace has been filed with the
High Court
.
Supporters of the action waved
Palestinian
flags and shouted 'No jets for genocide' outside the Four Courts in Dublin as the judicial review proceedings were filed on Tuesday.
The action is by: Cork-based community campaign group Uplift; three journalists with news outlet
The Ditch
–Roman Shortall, Eoghan McNeill and Paul Doyle;and Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati, an Irish-born surgeon who worked in Gaza hospitals.
As an Irish-Palestinian surgeon, Dr El Mokhallalati said he is 'outraged that Ireland allows arms trade with Israel and allows military jets pass through Irish airspace, jets that bombed my own family in Gaza, where my Irish children were pulled from under the rubble'.
READ MORE
'I was arrested and interrogated while treating patients in Gaza,' he said. 'I believe it is both a moral and legal imperative for the Irish Government to uphold international law and end complicity with genocide.'
Represented by Phoenix Law, the applicants claim the Government is in breach of national and EU laws by allegedly facilitating military and dual-use trade with Israel. They claim the Government is allowing flights carrying explosives, guns and ammunition to Israel to pass through Irish airspace. They also claim Government is unlawfully continuing to grant permits for military-related goods, including components for F-35 jets, to be exported to Israel.
The proceedings are against the Ministers for Transport and for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Government of Ireland, Ireland and the Attorney General. Before judicial review proceedings can be taken, the High Court has to grant leave which involves deciding whether or not the applicants have an arguable case.
Speaking outside the Four Courts, Mr Shortall and Brian Cuthbert of Uplift said they hope the court will treat the case as urgent and hear the leave application sometime later this week, before the law term ends on Thursday.
Irish-Palestinian surgeon Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati
The Government has called what is happening in Gaza a genocide 'but at the same time continue to allow weapons to be sent to Israel', Mr Cuthbert said.
'People across Ireland refuse to stand by any longer and allow this travesty to continue and we have been left with no choice but to use the courts to force the Irish Government to stop sending weapons to the Israel Defense Forces.'
In a statement grounding the action, the applicants referred to research and reports published by The Ditch. It is claimed the material showed flights were and are transporting munitions and other weapons of war to Israel through Irish airspace.
Other claims include that goods from Ireland are being exported to Israel for use by two Israeli arms companies for manufacture of weapons and military equipment.
The applicants say the Government's position in relation to the use of Irish airspace is 'unclear and contradictory'. They say the Government maintains Irish airspace has not been used to transport weapons of war while also saying they do not know how Irish airspace is being utilised.
It is argued the applicants have 'clear evidence' thatIrish airspace has been used to carry munitions and weapons of war being used against the people of Palestine.
In an affidavit, Dr El Mokhallalati, who worked in hospitals in Gaza in 2023 and 2024, including as head of the burns unit in Al Shifa hospital, said he has lost dozens of family members who were killed in Israeli military strikes.
[
TD Gary Gannon files legal proceedings against Central Bank over Israeli bonds
Opens in new window
]
'I am haunted by the number of people injured and killed, the children that I treated and the huge numbers of children who died or had their limbs amputated, he said.
'I continue to lose those I love every day, including medical staff and relatives, and I live in fear at what may happen to those who have not perished, with the ever-high risk that my uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents may be lost in this genocide.'
From media coverage and articles, he believes Ireland has been facilitating the transfer of weapons and munitions of war to be used against the people in Gaza, he said.
While appreciative of the solidarity which the people of Ireland, and the Government, have shown to Gaza, he was 'disappointed to see that the Irish Government continues to ignore the abuse of its airspace in this manner' and, in this way, is 'facilitating the most egregious crimes against humanity'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
28 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Ireland has too many quangos and too many lawyers feeding off its clientelist politics
If government is the group of people who run a state and the formal rules and institutions by which they do so, governance is how they go about that through networks, processes, interests, ideologies and political actors at different levels. The Republic of Ireland has a well-defined and clearly identifiable government structure, formally accountable through elections and the Oireachtas and amply covered by media . In contrast its governance is much more opaque, less visible to its citizens and its media coverage is patchy and uneven. This matters because the Republic currently suffers from a series of problems – in housing, energy, water, climate, health and care infrastructure and in its economic model – that arise from suboptimal governance just as much as from short-sighted or incompetent governments. These problems are often made more visible by comparisons with similar states in Europe and elsewhere. This State is one of the most centralised in Europe , whether defined by the functional and geographical concentration of executive and political power in Dublin or the comparatively puny powers of both parliamentary and local government. Such centralisation puts an onus on political leaders and executive managers to get things right through coherent, integrated policymaking. READ MORE The abiding localism of Irish life is channelled to the capital by networks of TDs, private lobbying and clientelism that dominate the distribution of resources. That perfectly matches the retail, consumerist and reactive side of everyday Irish politics – and provides much of the media agenda. Less often discussed are the resulting poor outcomes across a range of public services because more local and regional structures of governance are unavailable to policymakers. [ Fintan O'Toole: The three pillars of Ireland's political system are crumbling Opens in new window ] Instead policymaking is often outsourced to quangos (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations). An OECD report identified 800 of them and said they clog up Irish governance and inhibit local government . Notorious examples of poor practice and opaque structures in health and educational bodies provide daily headline news. If we are over-quangoed we are also over-lawyered in planning and insurance per head of comparable European populations. These issues show up plainly in how Irish governments responded to the growing population over the past decade during the economic recovery and expansion after the financial crisis. Immigration of skilled labour through work permits has increased the population by 16 per cent, or more if refugees are also factored in. Imperatives of economic growth drove the expansion; but it was not accompanied by plans to increase housing and infrastructure to provide for a growing and more complex society demanding greater public services. Instead market forces prevailed, but they failed to meet that demand. [ Chronic inability to build anything big in the State is baked into the system Opens in new window ] These widening gaps were identified by some analysts and commentators, and they then became part of the political and election agenda. But they have dominated public debate only since being put there squarely by big economic players and international organisations over the past year. Infrastructure deficits inhibit new investments, they say – and that coincides with wider concerns about how vulnerable the Irish economic model has become to international shocks, particularly from Donald Trump. Hence the level of interest in the National Development Plan and its methodology. Rather than base it on an analysis of changing demographics, economic trends and social needs which generate development priorities, its method is more ad hoc in response to the uncertain international backdrop. Detailed project plans await definition, as the scale of the Trump tariff shock is assessed. In the meantime, different Government departments are allocated capital expenditure envelopes based on their bargaining power. How will the updated National Development Plan shape Ireland in years to come? Listen | 35:59 It's a far cry from the strategic foresight approach to governing increasingly advocated by analysts, companies, the EU and international organisations. That involves gathering information about relevant trends and potentially disruptive risks, developing scenarios about plausible futures and integrating such insights into anticipatory planning. The OECD has advocated such an approach for Ireland and there are several initiatives in government and academia to apply them. Had they been deployed over the past decade we could have been better prepared to tackle these development gaps – not to mention linking them to the equally plausible prospect of a united Ireland. Notwithstanding the highly centralised nature of Irish government, it has lacked the capacity to aggregate governance coherently and to resist particular interests. The consequences of changing demographics and economic growth should have been more effectively foreseen, but were not. For that politicians and executive managers should share the blame. [ Tariff 'uncertainties' could 'weigh heavily' on Irish economic growth Opens in new window ] The problems are exacerbated by the narrow base of Irish taxation, in which 10 US corporations provide 40 per cent of corporate tax revenue, along with the glaring six-fold contrast between the multinational sector's high productivity and that of indigenous industry. Tackling these problems requires structural change in the Republic's governance to decentralise and redemocratise power, by prioritising and co-ordinating development gaps more effectively with better analysis. That would help repair the seriously widening distributional and political gaps between older and younger generations.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
The Irish Independent's View: Prudence, rather than largesse, makes most economic sense for Ireland right now
As August begins, we have already seen so many budgetary kites take flight to tell us the making of the next year's budget starts earlier each year. Right now, Ireland is a rich nation and its people have expectations that accord with that. But in a Trumpian discordant world, that situation could change rapidly, as we found to our cost in 2008 when we entered what former finance minister Michael Noonan later called 'a lost decade'. Ireland's small, open economic model leaves us susceptible to swift boom-and-bust switches. In early October, we will learn the 2026 financial plans of 'Mr Prudence' himself, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. Many of us believe we deserve more goodies, but this is more a time for caution. If tough global economic times hit soon, we will be in a better position than we were in 2008, but the atypical budget surplus, which contrasts with our European neighbours, can only cushion so much. Ireland cannot be an economic outlier forever. We are reminded that the days of the early 2000s, when taoiseach Bertie Ahern declaimed that the 'boom just got boomier', presaged tough economic times. The impact of Donald Trump's tariffs may diminish the resources available for such largesse Mr Donohoe and his colleagues insist that one-off budget payments, like electricity bill grants, are not going to happen next year, but closer analysis suggests the Government's dilemma is that voters will notice the difference if they do not happen again. This is particularly true for households with children, who benefited from two double welfare payments. For a single worker on €50,000 last year, the budget measures delivered about €860 extra per year. When you add the two energy credits amounting to €250, you find it was a nice bonus that will be missed. The impact of Donald Trump's tariffs may diminish the resources available for such largesse, which should at all events be targeted, rather than blanket, measures. It may also provide some political cover for a more prudent approach to public spending. Last month's Summer Economic Statement indicated that there would be scope for a tax package of about €1.5bn, but a substantial part of that would be taken up by the pledged hospitality Vat rate cut to 9pc. Put this alongside keeping the lower Vat rate on household energy bills and you are suddenly over €1bn for a full year. Yet voters want income tax cuts, which are key to politicians' re-election, assuming there is available cash. Then there is the demand for welfare increases averaging €12 a week last year. All things considered, the Budget 2026 will prove more challenging than in the years of austerity when cutbacks virtually wrote themselves.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Letters: Gaza is a humanitarian disaster zone – observing reality is not antisemitic
That this should now be a common reaction is a mark of how dangerously narrow the conversation has become and how effective the Israeli government has been in conflating legitimate criticism with bigotry. The world is watching an immense humanitarian disaster unfold. The mounting civilian death toll, the chaos of aid distribution and the absence of any viable plan for Gaza's future are not matters of opinion; they are documented realities. To point to them is not to erase October 7, or to excuse Hamas; it is to insist that collective punishment cannot be the policy of any democracy that claims the rule of law. Many of Israel's closest allies are beginning to see this. The shift in Western public opinion, especially among the young, is not because of some sudden outbreak of latent antisemitism, but because people have eyes, ears and a conscience. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran, Co Armagh Substance abuse levels are growing: children need to be educated on dangers The Health Research Board reports that more people than ever are in treatment to help them tackle alcohol and drug abuse. Its annual report on problem drug and alcohol use covers an eight-year period from 2017 to 2024. It's reported that more than 8,500 people were treated for alcohol abuse last year. Alcohol remains the drug that most people need help with, but cocaine use alongside alcohol is also rising significantly. It seems that younger people are more inclined to poly-drug use, where the older demographic tends to be more alcohol-dependent. As a clinician, I have become accustomed to seeing people who may be experiencing a concern, like pain from an injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression, and instead of addressing the root cause, one sees how substance misuse temporarily numbs pain or psychological health concerns. ADVERTISEMENT One might hear this being referred to as 'self-medicating', but it's a dangerous coping mechanism. All children and young people have a right to effective drug and alcohol education that not only teaches them the facts about substances and their effects, but equips them with the skills, strategies and attributes to manage their lives. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Inflation may be up by only 1.6pc officially, but our pockets tell a different tale Is the inflation index becoming fake news these days? We are told by the CSO that inflation rose by 1.6pc to the end of July, and that at the same time foodstuffs rose by 4.6pc ('Shoppers buy cheaper cuts as food prices rise at three times inflation rate', Irish Independent, August 1). Now, I know that inflation is measured by a basket of items, not just foodstuffs, but it is taking the biscuit to say inflation only rose by 1.6pc. Pocket inflation to me is the real measure. Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18 Social Democrats and the Labour Party are finally pulling in same direction It is no surprise that the Social Democrats are standing by acting party leader Cian O'Callaghan's decision to re-admit Eoin Hayes to the party after his eight-month suspension, despite giving incorrect information to the media about the sale of his shares in a US software company that supplied technology to the Israeli military. He will reinstate their numbers and this will be advantageous for the purpose of committee membership and chairs. Eight months was not a long time to spend in political purgatory. According to Tabitha Monahan's article, O'Callaghan's parliamentary secretary Martha Ní Riada was not very impressed. It is interesting to see that the Labour Party has joined the Social Democrats in its endorsement of Independent Socialist candidate Catherine Connolly. I believe this is the correct option for Labour as it had no credible candidate of its own. This could be a start to the unity of the left. We will just have to see if the numbers will strengthen. Thomas Garvey, Claremorris, Co Mayo Catherine Connolly only needs Sinn Féin to row in and it's a two-horse race Well done to the Labour Party for its decision to back Independent TD Catherine Connolly in her bid for the presidency. The onus now falls on Sinn Féin to complete the opposition line-up against the Fine Gael (and, so far, the only government party candidate) Mairead McGuinness. This could now turn out to be a two-horse race. If so, the famous races on all this week at Ballybrit may augur well for the Galway girl. John Glennon, Hollywood, Co Wicklow In rush to erase the Triple Lock, it seems we have forgotten our past Which will hit the tape first, the Coalition's goal of the Triple Lock or the slow bicycle race called the Occupied Territories Bill? The Triple Lock is puzzling, talking about freeing us up to militarily involve ourselves in wars of our choice. Wars of our choice tend to be wars of the US and UK's choice. Ironically, the plain people of the nation want the OTB passed, but find legal obstacles along the way. However, the Triple Lock seems locked and loaded before Halloween falls. We are a neutral nation that once carried moral clout. Playing war games with nations smeared in supporting current genocides wasn't what Connolly and Pearse envisaged. Or have the Soldiers of Destiny forgotten entirely their past? John Cuffe, Co Meath Shinners' lack of respect and tone when talking in Dáil shames the party When Leo Varadkar was taoiseach, he made an insightful comment about Sinn Féin's behaviour and attitude in the Dáil at the time. The party always engages in demonising and putting down the Government in a way that is not parliamentary or at all cordial. It is actually dull and boring and hypocritical, given they are talking about stuff like respect for those who need hospital treatment, for example. Could the party please take some time out this August to think about how it acts in the Dáil and the tone it uses when speaking? Liam Doran, Clondalkin, Dublin
