McDonald: SF call for Israeli ambassador expulsion not due to fears of being ‘outflanked’

Sinn Féin’s decision to support calls for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador was not down to concerns they could be “outflanked” by other left wing parties, Mary Lou McDonald has said.

There had been a “moral failure” in not tackling Israel’s actions in annexing Palestinian land over recent decades, the Sinn Féin leader told The Week in Politics on RTÉ One.

Sinn Féin has said it will support a motion in the Dáil next week tabled by the Social Democrats, calling for the expulsion of Israeli ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich.

Ms McDonald said Irish people were “horrified” at the “sheer brutality” of the bombardment of Gaza, where she claimed there was a “brazen” breach of international law by Israel.

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Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu appeared to be “more entrenched” rather than reflective as the war continued, she said.

“There has been a moral failure for generations, where Israel has been allowed to occupy, annex land and run a system of apartheid and this has to be the moment where we are at a tipping point and the world says stop,” she said.

Ms McDonald said a Dáil motion from her party to call for Ireland to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court was a means to “ratchet up pressure” to achieve a ceasefire.

[ Sinn Féin Ardfheis: situation in Gaza a ‘living hell’, says Palestinian ambassador ]

“I actually think the best position that we can be in and the most powerful that Ireland can be in this is when we achieve a united position across the Dáil,” she said.

Speaking outside a Remembrance Sunday service in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ms McDonald said the Netanyahu government has “deepened their belligerence and hardened their position” on Gaza. “We want the Government to act, we’re bringing a motion during the week, we hope they’ll support it, relating to the International Criminal Court. But ultimately this is all about ceasefire,” she said.

Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris said if the Government expelled Ms Erlich the “immediate” response from Israel would be to expel the Irish ambassador in Tel Aviv, “at a time when we are trying to get our citizens out of Gaza”.

Mr Harris said while he supported an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, it was also important that the October 7th attacks in southern Israel by Hamas were not “brushed over”.

He said the Government could not “sabotage” consular lines of communication with Israel at a time when an Irish citizen, eight year-old Emily Hand, was among the hostages taken by Hamas.

Commenting on housing policy, Ms McDonald said her party’s plans to increase public housing delivery if in Government would not come at the cost of private homebuilding.

Ms McDonald said she would “challenge the assertion” that people or public representatives making planning observations or objections was delaying housing projects.

[ Mary Lou McDonald denies Sinn Féin has policy of taking legal actions against media ]

The Opposition leader said the “bigger delay” facing public housing developments was the amount of time it took to complete value-for-money procurement bidding processes for each project.

Speaking on the weekend of the party’s ardfheis, Ms McDonald said she saw no reason a Sinn Féin TD could not be Minister for Justice if the party were in Government.

“There is no reason why a Sinn Féin representative, no more than anyone else, should not occupy any ministerial portfolio, including justice,” she said.