Kneecap say Catherine Martin will be 'on her own' at SXSW festival as Irish artists pull out
Hip hop trio Kneecap are among the entire lineup of Irish artists who withdrew from the Texas event in protest at sponsorships by the American military, and major sponsorships from military-industrial companies. Picture: David Creedon
A member of rap group Kneecap has said that Arts Minister Catherine Martin will be "standing on her own” on the Irish stage at the South by South West (SXSW) music festival in the US.
The band are among the entire lineup of Irish artists who withdrew from the Texas event in protest at sponsorships by the American military, and major sponsorships from military-industrial companies.
Speaking on , Kneecap's Mo Chara said the withdrawal "sent a clear message."
He explained: "We just made the decision because it's good to be on the right side of history, you know, as Irish people.
"And I was very, very proud to see how a lot of bands followed suit. Straight off, it sends a very clear message, that the Irish people will always be in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Mo Chara said he would not comment on whether people should or should not attend the festival.
"We were only making the decision based on us. But I know obviously the Minister was saying that she was going to support Irish acts. I think that she will be standing at the Irish stage on our own.”
When asked if the minister had spoken with Kneecap, he said “she hasn’t spoken a word to me.”
In their original statement about withdrawing, Kneecap pointed out that the tally of 31,000 Palestinians killed - over 21,000 of them women and children - in the past five months is 10 times the number of people killed in the Troubles in Northern Ireland over 30 years.
Mo Chara noted: "The financial impact of not attending the festival will be “very expensive,
“But at the end of the day, this is just a minor sort of hiccup in our careers in comparison to what's actually happening in Gaza, you know, and everybody can play their part.
“But the whole country can play their part, whether it's at rallies or boycotting Israeli goods and anyone who has a platform continuing to use it in any way.
"Yes, we lost a bit of money, but, you know, it's priceless to do the right thing.”
A statement issued by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media on Tuesday said that Ms Martin is "representing Ireland at a number of events in Austin as part of the Government’s 2024 St Patrick’s Day programme, some of which form part of the SXSW festival".
Speaking in Boston, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar strongly backed Ms Martin's decision.
He said that while the musical artists are entitled to, Ireland's government does not have a policy of boycott.
"I fully appreciate that people have the right to boycott events should they choose to do so and I totally respect that.
"But it's not the policy of the Irish government to engage in boycotts. It's one thing to exclude a country from an event or a competition or a sporting event or you know, film festival, for example.
It's another thing to exclude yourself because they weren't excluded. And it's not our policy, to boycott. It's our policy to engage."
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