Taoiseach condemns 'shocking rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial'

Micheál Martin was speaking before travelling to attend today's 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

Micheál Martin at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Israel in 2023 when he said: 'It is very important we never forget what happened during the Holocaust, or the enduring lessons learned through the darkest period of human history.' Picture: Phil Behan/DFA

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has condemned what he called a “shocking rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial” of recent years.

Mr Martin was speaking ahead of a ceremony he is attending on Monday in Auschwitz to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The Taoiseach will join other world leaders at a ceremony for International Holocaust Remembrance Day where they will recommit to combating antisemitism.

Mr Martin said people around the world must denounce and combat antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, intolerance, racism, and xenophobia.

Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichenthal and President Michael D Higgins arriving for Ireland's Holocaust Memorial Day event at the Mansion House in Dublin on Sunday. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA 

“In recent years we have witnessed a shocking rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial, both online and offline,” Mr Martin said.

“I take this issue very seriously, and the Government will continue to work at home and with international partners to tackle all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism.”

The Taoiseach said Ireland will continue its close relationship with the Jewish community and ensure that their concerns are heard. He said: 

In Auschwitz, people from across the world shall gather once again to ensure we never forget. 

In remembering the “unique horrors” of the Holocaust, Mr Martin said the people remember the 6m Jewish people who were exterminated in Nazi death camps as well as the Roma, disabled, members of the LGBT+ community, and the political dissidents who were persecuted and murdered without mercy.

He noted that this year's commemoration is probably the last “significant anniversary” at which survivors of the camps will be present in person.

“Though they are now all advanced in years, their memories of what happened in the camps — the profound loss of their family members and the destruction of Europe’s vibrant Jewish communities — remain crystal clear and vivid,” said Mr Martin.

At Ireland's Holocaust Memorial Day, President Michael D Higgins highlighted genocide itself and 'the complicit actions of silence, of the averted gaze, of those who, by their culpable indifference, allowed the Holocaust to be planned, prepared, and to occur...' Picture: Maxwell’s

“We owe it to them to ensure that now, and for all generations to come, we remember and say: ‘Never again’.”

Speaking at the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration in Dublin's Mansion House, President Michael D Higgins spoke of the importance of education to ensure that an atrocity such as the Holocaust “never happens again”.

“It is important that all in each generation and political leaders are made acutely aware of not just the consequences of an attempted genocide, but of the complicit actions of silence, of the averted gaze, of those who, by their culpable indifference, allowed the Holocaust to be planned, prepared, and to occur, and of course there were those who refused to respond to the desperate pleas of those who were seeking refuge from it,” said Mr Higgins.

He said we live in a world of rising political authoritarianism, polarisation, and violence where democracy is being threatened while racism, division, and exclusion are promoted.

“What humanity needs now is the building of a mind of peace,” said Mr Higgins.

“It will be difficult work, but we must co-operate to envisage and deliver peace.”