The governing board at Trinity College has voted to cut ties with Israeli organisations.
Last May saw students set up an encampment on the campus in response to the ongoing war in Gaza, with the encampment coming to an end after the college agreed to launch a review into the university’s ties with Israeli organisations and firms.
A year later, Trinity has now opted to freeze Israeli institutions, suppliers and companies out of Trinity’s various processes.
Under the changes, Trinity will no longer work with Israeli institutions on research projects, will no longer use Israeli companies for supplies, and will divest from any Israeli companies.
As a result of the May 2024 encampment, a task force was set up at Trinity College to discuss and examine the college’s relationship with Israeli-related institutions and services.
The task force is made up of students, staff unions, and senior management at the college.
At a meeting this week, the governing body that controls Trinity voted to accept, in full, the recommendations of the task force.
The task force recommended that Trinity no longer cooperate with any Israeli universities on research projects, allow Israeli students to study there under the Erasmus programme, or enter into any new commercial relationship with an Israeli company.
In a statement seen by RTÉ, board chairperson Paul Farrell said “based on the strength of the evidence shared, and in line with the principles and procedures developed by the taskforce, the board has accepted the recommendations set out in the report regarding institutional links with the state of Israel, Israeli universities and companies headquartered in Israel”.
Farrell said the findings will be enacted for as long as the current conflict between Israel and Gaza continues, and will be kept under review.
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign welcomed the move, saying it was “historic.”
Chairperson Zoe Lawlor said, “we welcome this landmark step in academic rejection of apartheid Israel’s regime of occupation, ethnic cleansing, human rights abuses, war crimes, and genocide against the Palestinian people, and we call for more Irish universities to follow suit.”
They said that Trinity will “now stand on the right side of history, as it did with South African apartheid in the past.”
People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy said, “I am relieved the university has finally acted. It should not have taken this much pressure to do what is both morally and legally required”.
The Dublin City Council member said what Trinity did was “the absolute minimum that should be demanded of institutions around the world in the face of a genocide.”
“If we truly recognise what is happening in Gaza as genocide, then under international law we are not just permitted to act—we are obliged to. Trinity’s decision is welcome, but it is long overdue. And now, every university and institution in Ireland must follow suit”.
“This decision shows that when we organise, we can win. That we have power. And now that power must be used to escalate solidarity with Palestine—in our universities, on our streets, in our unions, and across every corner of this island”.
Labour spokesperson on further and higher education Senator Laura Harmon welcomed the announcement, saying “the power of student activism can never be underestimated, and the students’ protests have paid off”.
“The principled and brave stance of Trinity College students and staff should now act as a catalyst to all institutions across the country to follow suit, to fully divest from Israel and to cut all academic ties.”
“People across Ireland are pleading with us as public representatives. They are asking us to act – to reflect the values that define us as a country: humanitarianism, equality, solidarity, and peace. They want us to be their voice.”
The Labour Senator said, “the step taken by Trinity is an important one. We must isolate Israel economically, culturally, and academically. We must do all that we can as a nation to stop the bloodshed and work towards the attainment of a lasting ceasefire.”
The ongoing war between Israel and Gaza has become one of the defining issues in Irish politics in recent times; last week, it was announced that the government would look to pursue, at least in part, an enactment of the long-delayed Occupied Territories Bill.
The bill, first proposed by Senator Frances Black in 2018, is now being progressed through the legislative process by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris.
During his brief tenure as Taoiseach, Harris moved to formally recognise the state of Palestine on the same day as the Spanish and Norwegian governments.
There have been accusations that the government are merely looking to pass a watered-down version of Black’s Occupied Territories Bill, and Senator Black said, “the key thing is getting the detail right.”
Senator Black, whose mooted presidential bid now appears to be unlikely, said, “we need to see a full ban on all trade with the illegal Israeli settlements, which includes both physical goods like fruit and veg, but also intangible services like tech and IT.”
“That is the standard set in the original Occupied Territories Bill which I tabled, and it’s what the International Court of Justice has said is required. The Tánaiste has committed to working on this when the Bill goes into the Dáil Foreign Affairs Committee in June, and I am certain that we can get the legal detail right if the political will is there.”
In an interview with the Irish Times last May, Israeli ambassador to Ireland Dana Ehrlich said that Ireland has a “disproportionate obsession with Israel that we don’t see with any other country.”
The ambassador said, “what we see in Ireland – the comments made by politicians, different initiatives spreading in civil society – has gone beyond the normal criticism, it is a vilification of a whole society, which now is also translated to the Jewish community here.”
In a recent interview with The Jewish Chronicle, former Southside minister Alan Shatter dubbed Ireland “the most anti-Israel country in Europe.”
The former minister claims he has been “cancelled” since the war started, and that he is no longer asked to contribute to Irish publications owing to what he calls his “nuanced” takes on the conflict.