Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Ruth Coppinger (PBP), Dublin West

I hope I get a little bit of extra time. We all agree the players should not have been in that position. That is a unanimous view. The Government and the FAI put them in that position. I want to think of another player today, Natalie Abudayyeh, a Palestinian footballer who is in an Israeli jail. She played here in Ireland in 2024. Any Palestinians I have spoken to really would have appreciated Ireland pulling out of the game. One of them spoke about rats eating the bodies of people in Gaza right now. The people in Gaza have lost the will to live. That is the reality of a live genocide. I call on the players to send a message worldwide. It is fair enough to wear black armbands and whatever, but pulling out of that game would prevent sportswashing, and image matters to Israel. Since the Taoiseach goes on about how great everyone internationally thinks he is, why did the Irish delegation sit fixed and not walk out when a wanted war criminal with a warrant out for his arrest stood up and gave a speech courtesy of the UN? Why did the Irish delegation take that decision when the Taoiseach was standing up telling the whole world to act? If Russia were playing, the Taoiseach would disagree. He should disagree with Israel playing, and he should come out and call for them not to play. He should support the FAI and the team if they are willing to pull out on Sunday.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29