Indo Daily
“To make it an offence for a person to import or sell goods or services originating in an occupied territory or to extract resources from an occupied territory in certain circumstances.”
So states the outline of the Occupied Territories Bill, as introduced in 2018 by senator Frances Black.
Seven years later, the bill is increasingly the subject of public pressure and debate, as Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris continue to address criticism.
And it’s not just here at home, with a growing number of international political voices chiming in, some in more derogatory fashion than others.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee slated the Occupied Territories Bill and told Ireland to “sober up”.
“Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness,” he posted on Twitter. The diplomat said the bill was “so stupid” it smacked of “diplomatic intoxication”. The Taoiseach stressed that people needed to focus on the ongoing loss of life in Gaza and across the Middle East.
Today on The Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Mary Regan, Political Editor with the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent, and by Tabitha Monahan, Political Reporter with the Irish Independent, to explore the Occupied Territories Bill, and the political flashpoints that underline it.