7. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if she has engaged, or plans to engage, with the UK authorities regarding the treatment and prosecution of members of Palestine Action and those who have expressed solidarity with the group; if she will raise concerns about the protection of the rights to peaceful protest, fair trial and humane conditions of detention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66238/25]

Sentiment score: 0.21

Has the Minister, her immediate predecessor or anyone in her Department engaged with the UK authorities regarding the Palestine Action group, which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government in July? The group was blacklisted for instigating a number of direct action protests against weapons manufacturers involved in selling arms to Israel in the context of its campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza against the civilian population there since October 2023.

Sentiment score: -0.50

The UK Government has, in an Orwellian inversion of truth, conflated protest against genocide with terrorism through its proscription of the Palestine Action group, placing it, absurdly, on the same blacklist as organisations such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Since the Palestine Action group has been designated a terrorist organisation, at least 2,300 people have been arrested according to the group Defend Our Juries, and a large proportion of these arrests took place at peaceful, sit-in protests in public areas across August and September of this year. Those arrested have included young students, teachers, pensioners and even an 83-year-old retired vicar. The United Nations human rights chief, Mr. Volker Türk, said that the UK Government’s designation is “disturbing” and “disproportionate and unnecessary”, while the Council of Europe, Europe’s human rights watchdog, criticised the “excessive limits” it places on the right to protest. Does the Minister plan to raise the protection of the right to protest when she next engages with her UK counterpart?

Sentiment score: -0.45

The acclaimed and best-selling Irish author, Sally Rooney, was unable to collect her recent Sky Arts award for literature in person as she did not feel safe entering the UK due to the risk of arrest for her public support of Palestine Action. She has even had to cancel all future public engagements in the UK and has expressed concerns that because of her intention to support Palestine Action financially, the availability of her books in the UK could be affected. One of the leading Irish authors of our time does not now feel she can enter the UK because of her support for a group protesting genocide. This is just one example of how the UK’s designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation begins to seep into every corner of society and constrains the right of Irish citizens as well as British citizens to speak the truth at this darkest time in our history. What meaningful engagement does the Minister plan to have with her UK counterpart about the UK Government's treatment and prosecution of members of Palestine Action? Will the Minister push for the UK Government to end its designation of the group as a terror organisation?

Sentiment score: -0.12