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Councillor Kerr to move -
That this Council becomes one of the first local authorities to formally condemn the scheduling of the upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures between Ireland and Israel, due to take place in September and October 2026.
The members note and support the massive public outcry and recent fan protests at the Aviva Stadium, which reflect the deep-seated anger of the Irish public regarding these fixtures.
We strongly support the sentiments of Irelands captain Seamus Coleman, who rightly highlighted that this moral dilemma should never have been landed “on the toes of the players”, and that the footballing authorities need to show leadership. The burden of international diplomacy and human rights advocacy must not be forced onto individual athletes, and no Irish player should be put under pressure or left exposed to career threatening sanctions by taking a standalone personal position.
Therefore, this Council calls directly on the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to take full institutional responsibility, show true moral leadership, and withdraw the Ireland team from the match.
While the FAI highlights potential UEFA sanctions and estimates a disputable financial impact of €5.5 million to €10.3 million, claiming a boycott would cause lasting harm, this Council firmly asserts that while the FAI may fear financial cost by standing up for human rights, that is absolutely no excuse for being morally bankrupt as they are now.
While the FAI abdicates its moral duty by hiding behind its UEFA 'obligations' and claiming they have “no choice” but to play, they completely ignore the people of Palestine who truly have “no choice” as a genocide continues to be carried out against them. Moving the fixtures to neutral venues behind closed doors, such as shifting the October 4th match to Serbia, fails entirely to address the ethical issue at hand. The FAI must be prepared to accept whatever regulatory or financial consequences UEFA may impose, rather than forcing our players and hoping our fans participate in fixtures that run entirely counter to the ethics, heart, and conscience of the Irish people.
If passed, the Council agrees that the motion will be forwarded immediately to the Chief Executive of the FAI, the 26 County Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport as well as to every other local authority in the country, North and South asking they support this motion unanimously.