Opinion
11 Mar 26

Irish neutrality protest to take place in Dublin next week

Attack near Enqelab Square in Tehran. Credit:Tasnim News Agency

The protest will take place March 18th outside the Dáil at 6:30pm.

An Irish neutrality protest is scheduled to take place outside the Dáil next week. The event, spearheaded by the Irish Neutrality League, aims to challenge the government's inaction in light of the recent US-Israeli strikes on Iran wich began on Febuary 28.

"The Irish government has refused to condemn the actions of Trump and Israel," reads a post by the League. "It continues to allow US troops to use Shannon Airport as a fuel stop. On the 17th, Martin will hand our national symbol to the man and system that had fuelled the militarisation that threatens us all. They are dedicated to their futures - not ours."

A statement on the League's website reads that "To further erode Ireland’s neutrality beyond what has already occurred since 2003 would fundamentally damage that reputation, make us less significant and less effective on the world stage and likely embroil us in more illegal and unjustified wars by larger world powers.”

Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit TD, recently condemned the continued use of Shannon Airport by the US military.

“This is just another power grab, an imperialist adventure, which we need to oppose and we need to say that Ireland should not be in any way complicit with that by continuing to allow US military to use Shannon Airport while it’s prosecuting what is clearly an illegal war," he said.

Iran’s deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian told Al Jazeera that as of March 9, the conflict had resulted in over 12,000 wounded and 1,250 confirmed deaths, including Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Additionally, UNESCO, the UN education agency, condemned a missile strike on a girls' school in southern Iran, where the reported death toll has risen to over 165.