Protesters removed from Holocaust memorial event during President's speech

Pic shows President Higgins as he makes his speech during ceremony on the 80th Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration 2025 held in the Mansion House Dublin . Picture: Maxwell’s

Several protesters were removed from a Holocaust commemoration event during President Michael D Higgins's speech on Sunday.

As President Higgins spoke of the grief inflicted on families on October 7, 2023, and the "unimaginable" response to it, a small number of individuals in the audience stood up and turned their backs to the stage.

While some people walked out voluntarily, others were removed from the event in the Mansion House by security.

Although a commotion could be heard, President Higgins continued with his speech.

President Higgins and his wife Sabina during the ceremony on the 80th Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration 2025. Picture: Maxwell’s 

He welcomed the current ceasefire while lamenting the heavy price paid, saying: "The grief inflicted on families by the horrific acts of October 7, and the response to it is unimaginable.

"The loss of civilian life, majority women and children, their displacement, loss of homes and the necessary institutions for life itself."

Mr Higgins said it is important that all remaining hostages are released by Hamas and all phases of the agreement are implemented.

"It is to be hoped that the agreement will not only bring an end to the horrific loss of life and destruction which has taken place but that it will also mark the beginning of discussions to sustain diplomatic initiatives which have been missing from the international community with tragic consequences."

Israel's outgoing ambassador to Ireland had criticised plans for President Higgins to speak at the event accusing him of making "anti-Israeli" statements.

Dana Erlich had called on him to withdraw from the event but this was rejected by the President.

Orli Degani, a German Jewish woman with Israeli citizenship, was one of those who walked out of the ceremony during the President's speech.

Ms Degani told the Irish Examiner that she felt "shocked and horrified" by President Higgins' speech accusing him of disrespecting the Irish-Jewish community.

The speech "deteriorated" when the President "stopped talking about the Holocaust" and instead "launched again into a speech about human rights, then about Israel and Gaza, which was exactly what the community asked him not to do", she said.

Ms Degani said that if the President had wanted to speak about a current event he should have addressed the rise in antisemitism in Ireland.

In his speech, President Higgins reiterated the importance of abiding by the commitments of the 2000 Stockholm Declaration to counter antisemitism.

He also spoke of "the poisons of antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, homophobia and intolerance are once again on the rise in many parts of the world".

The decision to attend the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration was a tough one, according to Ms Degani who said she went in the hope that the President "would use this occasion as a way of mending fences and building bridges and not tearing them down".

"He chose to make it again about Israel and Gaza, not even mentioning other conflicts around the world," Ms Degani said.

"Again lecturing the Jewish people in the audience, the Irish Jews, about how we should be, or what we should care about or not. It is diminishing the Holocaust."

The protest that took place was unplanned, according to Ms Degani, with some walking out ahead of the speech and some during, while others stood silently and turned their backs to the stage.

Those people were removed by security and escorted out of the building. Those who had walked out were not immediately allowed back in to the ceremony but were readmitted after about 20 minutes of discussion between security and event organisers.

Ms Degani said she would like event organisers to engage with them following Sunday's events.

On Sunday night, Holocaust Awareness Ireland released a statement saying it was "deeply disheartened and disappointed" in President Higgins' speech.

"President Higgins was asked by representatives of the Jewish community, including Belsen survivor Tomi Reichental, not to politicise his speech and to focus primarily on the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz," it said.

"Holocaust Memorial Day belongs to the sanctity of the victims and their families. For us, this time is sombre, precious and inviolable. It must be treated with respect and dignity."