Alan Shatter has said if Ireland do not play Israel in the UEFA Nations League it would be an act of “self-harm” for Irish football. 

The match is due to take place on 4th October and the venue is likely to be moved from the Aviva Stadium to a neutral venue somewhere in Europe. 

However, today, Dáil Éirean will debate a Sinn Féin motion which calls for the match to be boycotted on the grounds that humanitarian conditions in Gaza mean the “international community cannot continue with business as usual.”

On Newstalk Breakfast, Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward described himself as horrified that the Republic of Ireland would play Israel given the current situation in Gaza. 

“To me, moving the game to a different venue, to a neutral venue, is an absolute cop-out,” he argued. 

“Changing the venue doesn't change the facts that Israel is engaged in the starvation, the bombardment, the bombing, the mass displacement and the slaughter of the Palestinian people. 

“Israel are engaged in genocide.”

The Israeli flag outside its former Embassy in Dublin. Picture by: Arthur Widak/NurPhoto.

The Dublin Mid-West TD added that the issue goes far beyond normal politics and has become a “question of humanity”. 

He added that previous sporting and cultural boycotts have had a powerful impact on countries committing human rights abuses. 

“It makes a huge difference,” he said. 

“We've seen in the past where the apartheid regime of South Africa, when people refused, countries refused to play sporting games, fixtures against South Africa, how that impacted and changed that regime in South Africa.”

'Selective-based outrage'

Also on the programme, former Justice Minister Alan Shatter rejected Sinn Féin’s assertion that Israel is guilty of human rights abuses against the Palestinian people. 

“The lunacy surrounding this football match, initially created by Irish Sport for Palestine, now being run by a subgroup called Stop the Match, is utterly and completely and totally insane,” he argued. 

“I'm personally completely fed up with the attempt to sabotage every aspect of Irish Sport and bring issues relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into it. 

“I'm personally sickened by the prejudice, the escalating antisemitism, the selective-based outrage based on false narratives.” 

The former Fine Gael TD added that a boycott would do nothing to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. 

“We boycotted Eurovision - it had no impact of any description on anything to do with anything that's happening in the Middle East,” he said. 

“We now want to self-harm Irish football.” 

Alan Shatter during his tenure as Minister for Justice.

Mr Shatter also condemned the “selective outrage” over Israel, noted that Ireland recently played Qatar - a country whose treatment of migrant workers is often compared to slavery. 

“In August, the Irish cricket team is playing Afghanistan,” he said. 

“Women in Afghanistan under the fundamentalist Taliban regime are invisible - they're neither seen nor heard. 

“Medical doctors in parts of Afghanistan, who are men, will not provide medical assistance to pregnant women.

“There's no protest about the cricket matches.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said if Ireland does not play against Israel it could have “significant implications” for the Irish team's future prospects.

He added that he does not want Ireland to "unduly suffer as a result of anything that may happen.”

Main image: Alan Shatter. Picture by: Leah Farrell / Photocall Ireland.