The National Concert Hall (NCH) has reversed a decision to fulfil a booking for a private fundraising event for the Irish branch of an Israeli ambulance charity, former minister Alan Shatter has said.
Having accepted, revoked and then reinstated the booking, Shatter said the NCH informed him on Friday it would no longer be hosting the event.
The venue’s board was reported to be holding talks with Irish diplomats and the Department of Culture before coming to a final decision on the event.
In a statement on Sunday, Shatter said the “event’s cancellation can be properly described as an act of anti-Semitic censorship”.
READ MORE
Shatter said he met NCH representatives on Tuesday, with much of the discussion around security concerns related to the event.
He said the correspondence he received on Friday about the cancellation referenced “new circumstances” including the contents of a piece published in last week’s Sunday Independent.
[ An end to the war would suit both Trump and Iranian leadership. But not NetanyahuOpens in new window ]
Asked about Shatter’s statement, the NCH said: “The proposed event with MDA Ireland on 11 May will not proceed.”
The fundraising event was being organised by Shatter in his capacity as chair of the Irish branch of Magen David Adom (MDA), which runs ambulance services in Israel and is recognised by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
There has been sustained tension between Ireland and Israel over the mounting civilian death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza, triggered by the Hamas attack of October 2023. Israel and the US went to war against Iran more than a month ago, sparking regional tensions that have led to thousands of deaths and rocked oil markets and the global economy.
In his statement, Shatter said a fundraising event for “an independent humanitarian organisation dedicated to life-saving & emergency medical response connected to the Jewish community should not be a cause of difficulty or controversy”.
He said an aim of the event was to detail the experience of survivors and responders to the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, “narrated in their own words in a staged reading”.
The staged reading refers to a play written by US-based Irish journalists and filmmakers, Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. It is predicated on interviews the couple conducted in Israel. The play, titled October 7th, has drawn protests and required a police presence when performed in the US.
Shatter called on the board of the NCH to reinstate the fundraising event and for the “resignation of those who saw fit to cancel it”.
His statement noted an “escalating global perception of Ireland as one of the most anti-Semitic countries in Europe” and he said this decision would add to it.
MDA Ireland is overseen by the Charities Regulator in Dublin and lists its objectives as raising money for the group’s work in Israel providing “a voluntary ambulance service, medical care and treatment for persons irrespective of their nationality, race, religion, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or political affiliation”.
The most recent publicly available accounts for the Irish branch show donations and legacies rose to €70,563 in the 12 months to June 2024, the financial period in which the October 7th Hamas attack claimed 1,200 Israeli lives. It raised €16,364 during the previous year.
Members of Government, including Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan, were reportedly unhappy with the NCH’s handling of the situation before this latest cancellation.
[ Faced with an untrustworthy US, Europe must make bold diplomatic movesOpens in new window ]
