President Michael D. Higgins has today dissolved the Dáil ahead of the general election later this month, despite pleas from pro-Palestine activists for him to postpone this action until the Occupied Territories Bill is passed.
Taoiseach Simon Harris announced on Wednesday that he would later travel to Áras an Uachtaráin to ask Higgins to dissolve the Dáil. The President has a constitutional obligation to dissolve the Dáil on the advice of the Taoiseach unless the Taoiseach “has ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann”.
Prior to the meeting with Harris, hundreds of activists wrote to Higgins in a mass email campaign to “implore [him] to use [his] presidential power not to dissolve the Dáil, until the Occupied Territories Bill has been enacted”.
The email campaign was organised by a number of Irish civil society groups including Mothers Against Genocide and Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC).
“Today is the 397th day of the brutal genocide on Gaza, with the onslaught only intensifying and expanding. Our government has blocked and stalled this bill at every turn. Last week the offer of the opposition’s Dáil speaking time to facilitate the enactment of this crucial bill was refused,” the letter read.
“We hope that there is something within your power that you can do, as president, to help Ireland to begin the interventions to which we are obligated.”
“With the combined efforts of all who went before us, starting with Frances Black introducing it to the Seanad in 2018, we hope dear President Higgins that you can be the final contributor to getting the Occupied Territories Bill enacted now,” the letter concluded.
The enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill would see a ban on trade between Ireland and Israel’s illegally occupied territories in Gaza and the West Bank.
The bill, which was first introduced to the Seanad in 2018, was blocked by the previous government in 2019, however the current coalition said that they would seek to pass the bill following an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice in July.
It benefits from strong support from opposition parties such as Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, and People Before Profit, and from the Irish public who are vastly pro-Palestine.
Government has been criticised for delaying this legislation, with an email from the US Ambassador to Ireland recently being leaked to the press in which she wrote “if enacted in its current form, the bill would cause economic uncertainty for almost 1,00 US companies in Ireland” causing outrage amongst opposition party leaders.
The dissolvement of the Dáil formally marks the beginning of the campaign period for the General Election which will take place on November 29. The deadline to register to vote ends on November 12, this coming Tuesday.
