Ireland owes its Jewish Community an Apology.
Ireland has an antisemitism problem that comes from a sizable minority of Irish people. Some Irish people believe the conspiracy theories, believe that Israel is an imperial evil and that all jews are just plain evil. This has always festered under the surface, especially from our "anti-capitalists" groups (who live off our tax money generated from said capitalism). This rot has taken hold in our colleges (particularly in the arts), seeping into our workplaces, our media, our schools, and even our elected representatives.
The first step is to acknowledge the problem, and to do that, find out how big the problem is. No report has been commissioned by our government into how much antisemitism happens. Similar to the Irish Travellers, it's a minority that doesn't have a large voting block, so their needs will be mostly ignored(unless international pressure dawns upon us and then our representatives are quick to make a song and dance about it). Since no investigation has been done, there is no real defence of Ireland's virtue here. We may or may not have a significant problem, and can only rely on anecdotal evidence⭐️, which is drowned out by our loud virtue-signalling minority.
This brings us to our second step. The Irish people. Start electing adults instead of those addicted to pontificating.
Take Sinead Gibney, of the Social Democrats, who donned her nails in the colours of Palestine. When asked about the India-Pakistan conflict, she didn't have much to say. Nor has she expressed any dismay at the conflict in Nigeria, the escalation of tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, or the treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in China. The Palestine conflict is different because, let's face it, a Jewish state is involved. Sinead Gibney has accepted, without question, every piece of information that portrays Israel as the bad guy(not the country that desperately tried everything to get its citizens back) because condemning Israel is the badge you can wear safely without repercussions in Ireland. The media class won't challenge you, nor will her opposition in government.
The antisemitism of the Social Democrats doesn't stop there, though. They also removed a Jewish person from their party for expressing concerns about antisemitism. The Social Democrats said it's because of her views on Israel. Such moral conviction is ever-present in the Social Democrats until it affects their bottom line.
Earlier this year, they suspended Eoin Hayes from the party for holding Palantir shares he received as part of his employment with Palantir. Palantir makes weapons, which means war, and in this current climate, war means Israel, so poor Eoin was suspended from the party. Under Irish law, a party gets funding per representative, and even though Eoin was in the naughty-boy corner, the Social Democrats continued to claim the TD's allowance. A party of virtue until our taxes are involved, it seems.
Other left-wing parties are no different. Sinn Féin, who change its policies because of headlines, not evidence, have firmly aligned itself with the Pro-Palestine cause while never condemning Hamas. Perhaps they see the IRA in Hamas because they are certainly blind to some atrocities committed by the IRA. People Before Profit, another left-wing party, have even called for an intifada against the "colonial power" of Israel(but the same person sees no problem with Russia's action), and sadly, I can go on for days.
Hamas committed an awful act, then purposely used their population as a shield while they hid under a vast tunnel network. This is a rather simplistic summary, but it's the one many Irish people understand. Of course, Israel's actions in the aftermath of October 7th were seen as appalling⭐️, but Hamas could have ended the conflict at any time. They chose not to.
The majority of hard-working Irish people want our politicians to focus on our own problems, which are many, rather than getting involved in a conflict 6,000 km away. There has been little reason to vote in Ireland. Our traditional parties just want to cling to power, and our left-wing parties just care about looking good, not doing good.
We, the Irish people, have allowed this to happen. We have got the representatives and government we deserve by not becoming involved, by not voting, and we pay the price. Yet, this apathy allowed racism to fester towards a group of people who have contributed immensely to Irish society. Far more than the people we have elected.
That is why we owe our small Jewish community an apology.