Irish president’s Holocaust memorial speech sparks anger from country’s Jews

Michael Higgins’s address highlighted Gaza war, which country’s chief rabbi decries as an attempt to ‘politicize’ the memorial ceremony

Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins speaking at the state Holocaust memorial ceremony in Dublin, Ireland, January 26, 2025. (Screenshot from X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins speaking at the state Holocaust memorial ceremony in Dublin, Ireland, January 26, 2025. (Screenshot from X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Jewish groups on Monday accused Ireland’s President Michael Higgins of politicizing the Israel-Hamas war during a Holocaust remembrance speech, with the country’s chief rabbi calling his remarks “deeply disheartening.”

Higgins, who has previously been accused by Israel’s Dublin envoy of being anti-Israel, delivered a keynote speech in Dublin on Sunday, at an event on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Ahead of the commemoration, which marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, some in Ireland’s Jewish community of around 3,000 people objected to Higgins’s invitation.

During the speech, Higgins began speaking about the Gaza conflict, which prompted several in the audience of around 300 to leave in protest, while others turned their backs.

Higgins said the recent ceasefire deal with Hamas would be welcomed by the “thousands searching for relatives in the rubble of Gaza.”

“Ireland’s National Holocaust memorial ought to be a time to remember those who suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of the Nazis,” chief rabbi of Ireland Yoni Wieder said, in a statement to AFP on Monday.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins speaks at the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration at the Mansion House in Dublin, January 26, 2025. (President of Ireland/X)

“It is deeply disheartening that President Higgins opted to politicize it by singling out this war and taking issue with Israel’s response to the atrocities of October 7th,” Wieder said.

An AFP journalist saw some of the protesters being forcibly removed from the room by security guards.

“It’s no surprise that some in attendance chose to show their disagreement with his speech. They did so in silence, and they were not disrupting the event,” Wieder said.

“The fact that anyone was manhandled and dragged out of the room by force is a disgrace. It was completely unjustified,” he added.

Lior Tibet, one of the protestors who was removed, told AFP on Monday that it felt “horrible.”

“It surprised me, the physical aspect of what happened, but it doesn’t surprise me that Ireland has disrespect for the Jews,” said the 37-year-old, who is from Israel, but has lived in Dublin for seven years.

“We have heard the president’s comments during the last 15 months, hear the media, and feel the atmosphere on campus,” said Tibet, a university tutor in Dublin.

Flags of the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah that are seen at regular pro-Palestinian rallies in Dublin also stir unease among local Jews, she said.

Ireland, along with Spain and Norway, in May formally recognized a Palestinian state made up of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Relations between Ireland and Israel have deteriorated since the move, with Israel recalling its ambassador and later closing its embassy in Dublin.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris defended Higgins on Monday.

“I think the president was very clear in relation to obviously specific issues regarding the Holocaust and his absolute condemnation of the horror, the murder of the Jewish people,” Harris said.

“But also, I think, rightly mentioning the situation in the Middle East as well, but also calling very much for hostages to be released,” he told reporters.

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