IRELAND
No excuse for further delay to enacting Occupied Territories Bill, Matt Carthy TD
Matt Carthy TD, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs
From Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs Matt Carthy TD has said that legal advice published recently creates ‘a legal imperative for Ireland to meaningfully sanction Israel and enact the Occupied Territories Bill and Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill’. Authored by Professors of EU Trade Law at King’s College London and the City University of London, Carthy describes the legal opinion as a ‘scathing rebuke and correction of the advice the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have been using as a shield to avoid sanctioning Israel for nearly a decade.’
Speaking after attending the launch of the legal advice, Teachta Carthy said: “Israel’s near year long genocidal campaign against Gaza has now killed at least 40,819 Palestinians, including more than 16,456 children. They have targeted hospitals and healthcare workers, the injured, women and children and journalists. They breach the most fundamental treaties of international law and international humanitarian law on a daily basis, more recently seeking to expand the scale of brutality already endured by Palestinians in the West Bank to equal that unleashed on Gaza. And yet the Irish government, which rightfully has taken action in support of Palestine, has as of yet cowed from introducing any meaningful sanctions against Israel.
Government must now move to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been dragging their heels for too long as a genocide unfolds in front of our eyes. Israel is in breach of international law and Ireland has yet to meaningfully sanction it. The Occupied Territories Bill was introduced more than 6 years ago, has passed in the Seanad and was approved by the Dáil to proceed more than 5 years ago.
Sinn Féin’s Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill passed Second Stage in the Dáil last year and has since been the subject of every obscure legislative delaying tactic by government, meaning that Irish taxpayer money continues to be invested in companies which operate in illegal Israeli settlements within Palestine. Government is hiding behind advice from the Attorney General which has today been exposed as critically flawed at the time it was written, outdated and irrelevant in the context of Israel’s genocide and subsequent ICJ ruling. Not only does today’s legal advice lay bare that there is no excuse for not enacting the Occupied Territories Bill, but there is in fact a legal imperative as a matter of urgency to enact both bills.
Sinn Féin welcome that the Taoiseach has sought fresh legal advice himself in relation to trade with Israel, but this advice cannot be limited to trade with the Occupied Territories – government must seek the Attorney Generals advice in relation to invoking Ireland’s right to challenge the European Commission on its failure to act regarding genocide.”
- This was originally published in Sinn Fein’s email bulletin on 6th September 2024.
- Matt Carthy is a TD for Cavan–Monaghan and Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
By Geoff Bell
Historically, the Labour Party and Labour governments have often been part of Ireland’s British problem. Too often they were informed by a colonist mindset. In 1921 the Labour Party supported Ireland’s partition and the establishment of the British semi-state in what came to be known as “Northern Ireland”. In 1949 the Atlee-led Labour government passed the Ireland Act, strengthening partition. And one of the most repressive periods of direct rule by the British government during the Troubles was overseen by Labour’s Secretary of State Roy Mason and Prime Minister James Callaghan from 1976-79.
There have also been those within the party who actively opposed these policies. The largest parliamentary revolt by Labour MPs against the 1945-51 Government was over its capitulation to Unionists. A small group of Labour MPs in the 1960s campaigned against Unionist discrimination and sectarianism in the North of Ireland. Roy Mason’s regime prompted the birth and growth of the Labour Committee on Ireland. This won majority support among constituency parties for British withdrawal from the North at the 1980 party conference, although the trade union block vote ensured the defeat of the key resolution. Nevertheless, the change in mood eventually paved the way for the Blair government to oversee and enable the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) of 1998, This was a significant step away from unionism, stating, “it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone…without external impediment…to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent…subject to the agreement and consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland.”
What now? Keir Starmer’s first interview as leader of the Labour Party relating to Ireland, in July 2021, saw a return to the colonial mode. He declared he would campaign against Irish unification in Ireland should a referendum take place on the issue. He did not appear to realise that this would contravene the GFA.
Since then neither he nor his spokespersons on Ireland have repeated this intention. Beginning with shadow Secretary of State Peter Kyle a new position emerged. This was that Labour would be an “honest broker” in Northern Ireland. Both Starmer and his now Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, have echoed this, which might appear liberal and listening, but we have heard such phraseology before.
Notably, the British narrative during the Troubles when the British Army was portrayed as being the “pig in the middle” – the well-intentioned chaps keeping apart the two uncivilised Irish tribes. The troops were never that: they were pro-unionist, working in collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, while targeting the Catholic community with house searches, beatings and in Ballymurphy in 1972 and Bloody Sunday in 1972 shooting Catholic civilians sight. So, it is best to be cautious of those who repeat or recast the old colonialist claim of British state political neutrality.
But at least Labour has now promised to amend the Tories’ Northern Ireland “Legacy” legislation, which was designed to give an amnesty to all British security killers during the Troubles and stop investigations into their crimes. This is a welcome commitment, and it is one demanded by all parties, North and South, including the DUP.
However, the devil will be in the detail, and we await that before passing judgement.
Already, on 6 September Secretary of State Benn said parts of the Tory legislation will be retained, notably the establishment of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information (ICRIR). This is opposed by many victims and civil liberties groups and is known to be heavily staffed by present and former members of the Northern Ireland police, whose crimes are meant to a major focus of investigation of the ICRIR. It is the old story of the accused judging themselves. To make matters worse said that “achieving full consensus on legacy issues may simply not be possible.”
Even leaving this issue aside, both Starmer and Benn seem at times to inhibit an Irish fantasy world. They refuse to acknowledge the all-Ireland debate now taking place on building a new Ireland. There have been numerous meetings and public forums in both parts of island on what this should look like. Many of these were organised by the cross-community organisation Ireland’s future.
But while one of the first acts of Hilary Benn on being appointed Secretary of State was to attend a march of the avowedly anti-Catholic Orange Order, he refuses to engage in this new Ireland debate. Only the unionist Parties in the North practice a similar abstentionism. How is the British government’s partisanship on this issue the actions being an “honest broker”?
This issue was raised in an editorial in the pro-nationalist Irish News, commenting on a recent meeting between Starmer and his southern Irish equivalent Simon Harris. “What was missing”, said the newspaper, “was a firm clarification of their attitude towards the notably vague criteria for a possible Irish border poll.” The newspaper was referring to the promise in the GFA that a decision on such a poll would be in the hands of the British, but Ireland is now moving on from this colonialism. As the editorial continued:
“The discussion on the circumstance in which a referendum can be called remains at an early stage, but there can be no doubt of the wider post-Brexit direction is taking us.
There will be an expectation that Mr Harris and Sir Keir will soon set out their detailed vision of how the key issue linked to the unity debate can be democratically resolved.”
More generally it remains the case that British intervention in Ireland been and remains the deepest cause of political contention in the island. To date, Stermer has refused to discuss even the criteria for a border poll, saying it is “not on the horizon”. Again, how does this traditional British arrogance and intransigence equate to the GFA statement on Irish-self-determination? And how does it square with being an “honest broker”? A real honest broker would allow, no, encourage the people of Ireland to decide the own future. The first step is for the present Labour government to open discussions with the relevant Irish political parties and community groups on the practical mechanics of this process. The British labour movement should discuss how it can help.
- Geoff Bell is a regular contributor to Labour Outlook. His most recent book is The Twilight of Unionism (Verso). He is on the executive of Labour for Irish Unity.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
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