TDs urge Irish footballers to follow Ed Sheeran tour artists’ lead on Palestine
Ed Sheeran on stage during the last of his three Cork concerts at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Picture: Dan Linehan
Opposition TDs have praised the courage of Ed Sheeran’s supporting acts for withdrawing from the remaining Loop Tour dates and called on Irish footballers to take a similar stand over Israel’s actions in Palestine.
Aaron Rowe, Beoga, Finneas, who is Billie Eilish’s brother, and Lukas Graham have announced they are withdrawing from Sheeran’s Loop Tour following the decision to remove Macklemore from the lineup after comments he made about Gaza.
During a show at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week, the American artist said he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten.
This led to a petition demanding he be removed from the remaining dates.
On Monday, Macklemore posted on Instagram confirming that Sheeran and his team had “made the decision to remove” him from the Loop Tour.
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The Republic of Ireland are set to play a Nations League fixture against Israel on October 4 in Serbia. The game is to be played behind closed doors amid the prospect of protests and calls for a boycott.
Speaking outside Leinster House, as the Dáil returned from the summer recess, People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger said Irish players should show solidarity with Palestine and take a stand against Israel’s ongoing military operations in the Middle East.
“I hope the Irish players look at this, see the massive support in Irish society and internationally,” she said.
“Those small acts of solidarity, which are extremely brave, have an impact already. The whole world is now looking at Palestine.
“The next week, it is really decision time for the players, and the whole country will get behind you, like they’ve gotten behind these artists, who are paying a price, but also are gaining a huge following.”
Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly expressed similar views, but said the onus was on the FAI to make a decision for the players.
She said: “There’s a very important lesson for the FAI actually, if they’re willing to listen.
“There’s a lesson for the FAI to listen to what it is that that that people want. They want to stand against genocide. They want to stand on the side of the oppressed people of Palestine.”
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett also called on the Irish Government to have the same “backbone” as those who have pulled out of the tour.
He paid tribute to Aaron Rowe, who is from Monkstown Farm in the Dun Laoghaire TD’s Dublin constituency.
“He's a fantastic artist, but he has, as have the other artists, taken a really extraordinarily principled and brave stand against the genocide, and for the right of people to speak up freely against the genocide that has been committed against the Palestinian people,” Mr Boyd Barrett said.
“They are going to pay a price for it, but they've taken a brave and principled stand, and they deserve great credit.
“It really puts to shame the Government's role in all this, because where artists have shown that courage, shown that backbone, like Aaron Rowe, like Beoga, like Lukas Graham, and indeed Baird, who were previously on the tour with Ed Sheeran, have said they would also put out if they were part of the rest of the tour, but they hadn't been part of the tour, you compare that to our government that refused, for example, to support the campaign of Stop the Game to boycott the Irish football match with Israel.”
Mr Boyd Barrett noted that the FAI has repeatedly called on the Government to offer further support for the association ahead of the Nations League clashes against Israel in Hungary and Serbia.
He later raised the issue in the Dáil with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. However, he ran out of time before getting a chance to address the Ed Sheeran controversy.
Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly, meanwhile, said that Macklemore’s views were well known over recent years and should not have come as a surprise.
“He's not saying anything different to what a lot of Irish artists, such as CMAT and Kneecap have been saying,” he told reporters.
“I would hope that that decision could be reviewed, if possible. So I support Macklemore, but he's saying, of course, he's half Irish as well, isn't he? So we have skin in the game with him too.”
Macklemore is not half Irish, although it has previously been reported that his father’s family originated in Cork.
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