Irish Government reneges on Occupied Territories Bill promise

Centre-Right coalition of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael with Independents goes back on election promises to pass the Occupied Territories Bill

Irish Government reneges on Occupied Territories Bill promise

Micheál Martin has reneged on the Fianna Fáil election manifesto commitment to amend the Occupied Territories Bill. Instead he now says it will be replaced.

The Ditch reported that the US Ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin emailed the Taoiseach and the Irish Government to warn of ‘consequences’ if the Occupied Territories Bill was enacted. 

Cronin offered to ‘connect’ Ireland’s attorney general with Washington. Less than 90 minutes later Micheál Martin announced that “the bill will be reviewed and amendments will be prepared in order to bring it into line with the constitution and EU law” and would not be enacted before the general election.

The Occupied Territories Bill calls for an end to trade, that is imports and exports of goods and services to and from Israel’s illegal settlements in the Palestinian West Bank. 

Micheál Martin has referred only to imports of goods, excluding services provided by big US tech and finance companies. It is clear that a new occupied territories bill, if one is ever enacted, will be gutted of the impacts that Frances Black’s bill would have had. It is equally clear that this is Micheál Martin and the Government bowing down to the US and the new Trump administration. 

Paul Murphy, People Before Profit TD said, ‘It is important that people mobilise to resist and face down this Government capitulation to US wealth and power. The Palestine solidarity movement and the anti-war movement will be protesting at the Dáil on Kildare Street on Wednesday during the day and in the evening. The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign is also holding a National March for Palestine on this Saturday 25th January, meeting at the Garden of Remembrance, Dublin 1, at 1pm to march to the Dáil. I urge people to come out in their thousands on Wednesday and on Saturday in a show of strength to make it clear the Government’ will face sustained mass resistance to what it is planning’.