‘Stop the genocide’: Pro-Palestine protest held outside Leinster House
Pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate outside Leinster House. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Pro-Palestine protests are taking place outside Leinster House, ahead of a visit by US state legislators to the Dáil.
A meeting between US politicians and TDs and Senators is due to take place on Friday, with it being organised by the US-Ireland interparliamentary friendship group.
The US politicians, who are primarily from state legislatures across the country rather than the US Congress, will gather in the Dáil chamber this afternoon.
The protest itself is being led by the ‘Mothers Against Genocide’ group, with gathered protestors holding aloft cardboard cutouts of both US President Joe Biden and Taoiseach Simon Harris with bloody hands.
Chants of “free, free Palestine” and “US Congress, off our streets” were yelled throughout.
People Before Profit’s Bríd Smith said she had initially objected to the use of the Dáil chamber for the meeting, as a member of the Oireachtas Committee for Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight.
“We [People Before Profit] vehemently oppose the use of the Dáil Chamber or any area of the Oireachtas by the US political establishment as it continues to fund genocide in Palestine by arming the Israeli war machine,” Ms Smith said.
Several roads have been shut due to the protests, including Molesworth Street and parts of Kildare Street.
The visit by many US politicians to Leinster House comes ahead of the US College Football Classic, which is due to be held in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The match, which is taking place between Georgia Tech and Florida State University, kicks off at 5pm.
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