UCC cancels conference on Israel

A conference at UCC debating the legitimacy of the state of Israel has been cancelled as the university’s security is “inadequate” to deal with the level of protest expected.

According to the university management team, its “security infrastructure and staffing” is insufficient to deal with security required at the planned academic conference in March.

Hiring additional security would have cost implications. The team advised its organisers to come up with special security plans if they want the university to host the event at a later date.

Earlier this week, Academics for Palestine wrote a letter to the Irish Examiner urging UCC to allow the conference, “jointly organised by Palestinian and Israeli academics, to go ahead”.

The management team said it is prepared to permit the conference to proceed at a later date if the organisers fulfil a number of conditions.