Call to fly Palestine flag at Limerick council headquarters

A NUMBER of councillors have supported a call to fly the Palestinian flag over City Hall as a mark of solidarity with the tens of thousands who have died in the area’s conflict with Israel.

At this month’s local authority meeting, Cllr Ursula Gavan, Independent, brought a motion forward asking other members to call on Government to enact the Occupied Territories in full.

This is a proposed Irish law which would ban and criminalise trade with economic support of what are seen as illegal settlements deemed occupied under international law.

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Campaigners say notably this includes Israeli settlements on land which is claimed to be Palestinian.

Ministers denied reports the legislation had been shelved last week.

On top of this, Cllr Gavan also called for the flying of the Palestinian flag above City Hall.

There was confusion around this call, with meeting administrators saying it would need to be referred to a protocol committee to decide.

It was pointed out that in 2023, during his time as a councillor, Conor Sheehan saw a motion passed requesting the flying of the flag.

Independent councillor Maria Donoghue said: “I’d think if a motion has been passed on this historically, there is no need to revisit it.”

Priomh chomhairleoir Dan McSweeney said what was agreed at the protocol committee was that council official Ciara Farrell would go and speak with local authorities on the timeline of when any flag should go up and come down.

Cllr Sharon Benson, Sinn Fein, said this should not impact on Cllr Gavan's call to erect the flag now.

“We will agree to disagree,” Cllr McSweeney said.

“If the flag issue comes down to bureaucracy, then I think we have lost,” Cllr Gavan added.

Cllr Azad Talukder, Fianna Fail, asked: “Why do we have to play politics on this? If a motion is passed, it is passed. We want to see the flag over Merchant's Quay.”

As well as councillors Benson, Talukder, and Donoghue, there was also support for the call from Social Democrats duo Elisa O’Donovan and Shane Hickey O’Mara.

Fine Gael councilor Peter Doyle said: “I condemn Hamas who started this war, who slaughtered 1,200 people in 24 hours. I think we should condemn all violence and all murder.”