“We aren’t seen an ounce of moral courage from the people in power”

Upon receiving the award for Best Original Folk Track at last night’s RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin used his platform to deliver a passionate speech about Gaza.

“If this can happen before the eyes of the world, as the world screams for it to stop, we can’t say that we live in any kind of freedom or democracy. Rosa Luxemburg once said, ‘Those who do not move do not notice their chains.’ People are moving all over the world now and rattling their chains in unprecedented numbers. Now is the time to get organised and break those chains, and free Palestine.”

In the speech, Ó Ceannabháin discussed the Irish government’s lack of moral courage to stand up to Israel, or the USA, as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise at an alarming rate. Discussions around Ireland’s close relationship with the US have intensified as St Patrick’s Day draws closer. As part of the celebration, the Taoiseach travels to the White House and has an audience with the President to present them with a bowl of shamrock. Ó Ceannabháin criticised the government’s decision to continue with this tradition, and Biden’s backing of Israel more generally. “Today I watched a video of Joe Biden, casually eating an ice cream, as he told reporters that ‘we might have a ceasefire by Monday, but we’re not done yet.” The video of Biden’s ice cream diplomacy has been heavily criticised online.

Ó Ceannabháin then called for the Irish Government to boycott the Whitehouse, “there ought to be political consequences for genocide.”

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