The Awkward Squad

Richard Kay, what a disgraceful piece of selective anti-Irish journalism. To describe Ireland as a “sewer of anti-Semitism” is a sweeping and deeply insulting characterisation of an entire nation of 7.5 million people, north and south Let's be absolutely clear. Antisemitism is abhorrent. The 143 incidents reported by Ireland's Jewish Representative Council are deeply troubling and deserve massive consideration. Every Jewish person in Ireland deserves to live safely, free from hatred, intimidation, and discrimination. But acknowledging that does not require accepting your disgraceful attempt to portray an entire country as morally bankrupt because its people oppose the actions of the Israeli government. And since you've decided to question Ireland's humanitarian conscience, Richard, perhaps a few facts might be useful. if you had done some actual research, apart from listening to the campaigners who are targeting Ireland, to deflect from the atrocities in Gaza According to Ireland's official 2025 development assistance figures: Ireland contributed €1.88 billion in overseas development assistance, equivalent to 0.44% of our national income, they also provided more than €330 million in humanitarian funding, responding to crises across the world. Irish support through civil society partners alone reached over 9 million people across 64 countries. Ireland remains among the world's top 20 humanitarian donors. Irish humanitarian assistance has supported people affected by conflict and disaster in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. And here's a particularly inconvenient fact for your narrative: in 2024, 72% of Ireland's humanitarian funding through the programme reported by Irish Aid was directed towards forgotten and underfunded emergencies, including Syria, Yemen, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. So much for your bullshite suggestion that Irish compassion only extends to Palestinians. These are not slogans shouted at demonstrations, Richard. They are documented financial commitments, delivered through the United Nations, the Red Cross and humanitarian organisations working in some of the most dangerous places on earth. Ireland has been providing development assistance for more than half a century. Its humanitarian commitment didn't suddenly materialise when the war in Gaza began. Then there's your remarkable treatment of the Starry Plough flag. You associate it with the INLA while omitting its origins with James Connolly's Irish Citizen Army in 1914. A century of Irish labour history conveniently discarded to manufacture a more sinister impression. Your comparison with Afghanistan is equally selective. Ireland's decision to play cricket against Afghanistan is open to legitimate criticism, but it does not establish that Irish people are indifferent to the Taliban's oppression of women. And let's discuss Britain, Richard? Britain has experienced serious antisemitic incidents, anti-Muslim hatred and racist violence. Would you consider it fair to describe the entire British population in similarly contemptuous terms? Or does that particular standard of collective condemnation only apply when you're writing about Ireland? There is a serious discussion to be had about antisemitism in Ireland. Jewish people who have experienced abuse deserve to be heard, believed and protected. But you have repeatedly blurred the distinction between hatred of Jewish people and legitimate criticism of the Israeli government, while giving readers a thoroughly distorted impression of Irish humanitarian values, shameful behaviour TBH Irish people can condemn Hamas's atrocities, reject antisemitism, oppose the suffering of Palestinian civilians, and demand accountability under international law. These positions are not mutually exclusive. And the suggestion that Ireland only cares about Palestinian suffering is contradicted by decades of humanitarian work and billions of euros in documented assistance. The most unbelievable irony, Richard, is that you've written an article supposedly condemning prejudice while indulging in sweeping national stereotyping yourself. You could have written a serious and necessary article about the safety of Ireland's Jewish community. Instead, you've chosen to caricature an entire country while overlooking evidence that contradicts and obliterates your argument. Ireland is not beyond criticism, Richard. But neither is your journalism, and the Irish people deserve considerably better than this absolute Isreali propaganda piece. I, for one, will be refraining from any further consideration of this publication, and I hope that other Irish people do the same.