Ireland hears the call of Palestine, but is it free to answer?

Today, Ireland is a country reckoning with the cost and consequences of abandoning its ideals for economic gain. Since freeing 26 of its 32 counties from British rule more than 100 years ago, Ireland has moved away from its socialist roots and embraced neoliberalism. This change in ideology paved the way for it to become one of the richest countries in Europe but also left it unable to uphold some of its core principles moulded by the nation’s centuries-long struggle against occupation and oppression.

Over the years, Ireland did everything in its power to make itself attractive to large multinationals. Its low corporate tax, coupled with its status as the only English-speaking nation in the European Union, has made it a haven for foreign direct investment. The American Chamber of Commerce recently named it the “global location of choice for talent and innovation”. Its windfall corporate tax income – including the $14bn it recently received from Apple – has filled the nation’s coffers.Ireland has made the economy its primary focus and built great wealth as a result. But it also appears to have lost something important in the process: the freedom to fully stand up for its convictions on the global stage.Ireland owes much of its current economic success to the United States. Today there are more than 960 US corporations doing business in and running their global or regional books through the country. These companies directly employ more than 210,000 Irish citizens and indirectly support a further 168,000 Irish jobs – which together amount to some 15 percent of the Irish workforce. Just 10 multinationals – all of them US-based tech and pharmaceutical companies- accounted for 60 percent of Ireland’s corporate tax income in 2022.

There is no question that Ireland is economically dependent on the US, but does this mean it is also politically beholden to it? Does its disproportionate stake in its economy give the US inordinate power over Ireland’s geopolitical strategy?

The Irish state’s jarring refusal to do everything it can to counter Israel’s ongoing US-funded and facilitated war on Gaza, despite acknowledging the unshakeable support an overwhelming majority of Irish people have for Palestinians and their liberation struggle, informs us that the answer to both these questions is a resounding yes.

On the surface, every political faction in Ireland, including Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – which have governed Ireland since independence, and are expected to form another coalition government after collectively securing some 40 percent of the vote in last month’s general election – have strong pro-Palestinian credentials that are in line with the public’s convictions.

At a pre-election debate on November 18, all of the country’s leading politicians across the political spectrum made it clear that they understand where Irish people stand on the Palestinian issue. They all enthusiastically pledged their commitment to support Palestine and help it resist Israel’s efforts to continue and expand its illegal occupation of its territory in every way they can. But the moment of unity broke quickly when those in the opposition pointed to the elephant in the room: Ireland has not actually done all that it can to support Palestine.

Micheal Martin, the Fianna Fáil politician who has been serving as Tánaiste (deputy prime minister), minister for foreign affairs, and minister for defence since December 2022, tried to talk up Ireland’s track record on the issue, outlining how his government has recognised the state of Palestine, increased funding to UNRWA at a time when other nations were withdrawing funding, and supported South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. He also underlined his government’s friendly relations with Palestinian leaders to defend his position, saying the Palestinian Authority is satisfied with the support it receives from Ireland.

Opposition leaders were quick to pounce. Richard Boyd Barrett, the leader of left-wing People Before Profit party, delivered the most memorable blows. He pointed out that Ireland allows US weapons bound for Israel to pass through Irish airspace and that Ireland’s Central Bank continues to sell Israel’s war bonds while it is engaged in what the ICJ described as a “plausible genocide” in Gaza. He also questioned why the government has still not passed the Occupied Territories Bill 2018, which would see the end of all trade between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.

Representatives of the outgoing government – who are expected to form a new coalition government any day now – did not give any reason as to why they repeatedly blocked the bill since it was first tabled at least six years ago. They, however, said after the ICJ’s July ruling that Israel is indeed an illegal occupier guilty of apartheid, they are now ready to act, and if elected back into office, they intend to update and pass the bill. They offered no defence for the central bank’s sale of Israel’s war bonds or the US using Irish airspace to transfer bombs and other weapons to Israel.

The debate was a moment in which all of Ireland’s disparate positions coalesced into a single clarifying view. Ireland is a natural ally of Palestine. Irish people see in Israel’s occupation of Palestine and ongoing brutal assault on Gaza their own history of living under British occupation and facing relentless colonial aggression. But, the Irish state is not able, or perhaps more accurately is not willing, to do everything it can to stand with Palestine and support its liberation struggle.

The debate exposed the contradictions between the Irish government’s words and actions  and put the cost and consequences of Ireland’s economic dependence on the US under the spotlight.

The section of the debate on Palestinian solidarity raised some pertinent questions: what is stopping Ireland from doing all it can for Palestine? Could it be that Ireland, getting some 60 percent of its corporate tax from 10 US multinationals, is finding itself unable to take a firm position against Israel because all its actions, including its war on Gaza, are supported wholeheartedly by the US?

Most importantly, what is the true cost of US investment in Ireland? A lot, it seems. And perhaps more than many people in Ireland realise, are comfortable with, or want to face.

Ireland’s tacit support for Israel and by extension its current assault on Palestine go even beyond what was mentioned by left-wing opposition parties at the November 18 debate. Research by Uplift, an Ireland-based independent campaigning organisation, revealed that Ireland increased its dual-use exports to Israel by a factor of almost seven and also doubled its military contracts for drone servicing by an Israeli military-owned agency since the latest war on Gaza began following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.