Westmeath TD says playing Ireland-Israel game elsewhere would be "moral cowardice"
Longford-Westmeath TD Sorca Clarke has told the Dáil that playing Ireland's home Nations League fixture against Israel outside the country would amount to "moral cowardice".
The Sinn Féin representative was speaking on Tuesday during a debate on a motion put forward by her party in support of the 'Stop the Game' campaign which is seeking to have the two scheduled games against Israel, in late September and early October, called off.
A similar motion by the Social Democrats was debated on Wednesday, and in both cases the Government countered with an amendment stating that decisions around fixtures were a matter for the FAI.
When the motions were voted upon, the Government's amendment was carried, ahead of the Social Democrats and Sinn Féin motions, in each case by a margin of 81 votes to 68.
In the Longford-Westmeath constituency, TDs Peter Burke (FG), Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Ind), Robert Troy (FF) and Micheál Carrigy (FG) voted wth the Government, while Sorca Clarke voted in support of the unsuccessful Sinn Féin and Social Democrats motions.
Of the three Roscommon-Galway TDs, Fianna Fáil's Martin Daly and Independent Ireland's Michael Fitzmaurice voted for the Government amendment stating the games were a matter for the FAI, while Claire Kerrane (SF) voted with her party and the Social Democrats.
Deputy Clarke, in her address to the Dáil during Tuesday's debate, argued that Israel should be treated similarly to South Africa during the apartheid era.
"When apartheid existed in South Africa and when war engulfed the former Yugoslavia, boycotts and sanctions followed," she said.
"When Russia invaded Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA acted within days. Yet, despite all of this, there remains a dangerous and pervasive attitude that treats the Israeli state with kid gloves.
"There is nothing normal about what is happening in Gaza. There is nothing normal about sportswashing or pretending that sport exists separate from international law and human rights."
There have been reports that Ireland's home game against Israel could be played elsewhere, possibly in Hungary, but the local Sinn Féin TD said this was "not a solution" and would be "moral cowardice dressed up as compromise".
"The Irish people have already taken a position. They have stood up and spoken out loudly in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
"This game should not go ahead on legal and moral grounds. It is time to stop the games," she concluded.
On Wednesday, the Dáil debated the Social Democrats motion on stopping the Ireland-Israel fixtures. Its leader Holly Cairns stated: "The issue has never been where the game would be played. The issue is whether it should be played at all against an opponent actively committing genocide."
Wednesday's discussion was chaired by Longford-Westmeath TD Micheál Carrigy. With Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, in attendance, Deputy Carrigy took Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney to task for the final line of her speech.
"You need to grow a pair, as a Government, and do this and stop the game," Deputy Gibney said.
This was "unparliamentary language" and was "directed personally towards a member of this house," Deputy Carrigy said.
"I said 'the Government' actually," replied Deputy Gibney.
"No, it was directed towards the Minister. It is unparliamentary to make that comment," said the Longford-Westmeath TD.
The Sinn Féin motion called on the FAI to refuse to participate in the games against Israel "on legal and moral grounds", while the Social Democrats said Irish sporting bodies should "boycott fixtures, events, and competitions, where Israel is competing, as long as the genocide and illegal occupation continues".
The Government amendment, which was carried, stated that the FAI and other sporting bodies were "independent, autonomous bodies responsible for the governance of their own sports, including the organisation of sporting fixtures, whether in domestic or international competitions".