Two students arrested at protest over Tániaste's visit to UCC campus

Two students have been arrested on public order offences following a protest held by pro-Palestinian students on the University College Cork campus.

Both students, a man and a woman in their 20s, were arrested at the event held by the college’s Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) group UCC BDS.

The man was charged and has appeared before the courts and the woman received an adult caution, a Garda spokesperson said, adding that investigations were ongoing.

The protest was held to reaffirm UCC BDS’s demand that government officials should not be welcome on campus until the Occupied Territories bill is passed.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin was visiting The Gluckman art gallery at the university, which goes against UCC BDS’s demand.

The group said the protest had been peaceful and “was not intended to target or stain the reputation of the Gluckman staff, who have done trojan work to uplift diverse art and artists”.

The Occupied Territories Bill, which was a proposed law in 2018, that would ban and criminalise "trade with and economic support for illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law", most notably Israeli settlements in Israeli-occupied territories.

Violators of the law would face fines of up to €250,000 and up to five years in prison.

Although the Bill has passed both the Seanad and the Dáil, it has remained stalled for years.

The UCC encampment was visited by the Gaza Freedom Flotilla last week, who are "a grassroots people-to-people solidarity movement composed of campaigns and initiatives from different parts of the world, working together to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza", as described on their website.

They said they were "delighted to meet the courageous and dedicated members of UCC BDS who we have so much respect and admiration for."

"We hope that University College Cork will meet your demands as soon as possible. SAOIRSE Don Phalaistín," they added.

These arrests are the latest development in the group's ongoing protest at the university campus which has seen an encampment established at the quad for over a month now.

The encampment was set up on Tuesday, May 14 and was inspired by similar protests at academic institutions across Europe and America.