Paul Murphy among Irish citizens to return from Egypt

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy has returned to Ireland after being detained in Egypt while attempting to march through the country to Gaza.

Mr Murphy, who said his passport was confiscated during his detention, was among 10 people returning to Dublin Airport after participating in the large “March to Gaza” demonstration to deliver aid into the blockaded enclave.

He was first detained on Friday while on the march, but was later released.

He said he was later detained again on Monday after attempting to retrieve his phone from a police station.

The TD for Dublin South West said his phone has still not been returned by Egyptian authorities.

Speaking to reporters after being greeted at Terminal 1 by his partner and child, Mr Murphy said while participants had not reached Rafah, they had succeeded in highlighting their cause.

He said: “Just yesterday, 38 people were killed while queuing for aid. This has become a pattern now, more than 300 people in the last three weeks.”

Asked about Independent Ireland’s characterisation of the protest as a “publicity stunt” that interfered with Mr Murphy’s time in the Dáil, he replied: “People can make their own judgment on these things.

“First of all, this is not my stunt at all – there were 4,000 people participating. This is probably the biggest global co-ordinated march for Palestine that we have seen.”

Mr Murphy said he had been in the Dáil on Thursday before leaving and would be back after arriving home on Tuesday.

He said most people in the country want “politicians to do everything they can to stop this genocide”.

Asked about the treatment of protesters in Egypt, Mr Murphy and other participants told reporters it was clear that they had the support of the Egyptian people.

He said: “Obviously, we’re disappointed with the stance that the Egyptian state took.

“I’m fine, all the Irish people are fine. There are still some non-Irish people who are detained out there so we’re hopeful that they’re released as soon as possible and we have to be kind of mindful in the fact that they’re potentially still in detention. And there’s other Irish people that want to come home in terms of the comments we make about Egypt.”

They stressed that the focus was not about how they were treated and was instead about Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and added they would “absolutely” go again.

However, Mr Murphy said there was acceptance that another march through Egypt would not reach Rafah and that attention now moves to the upcoming Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday which will also be attended by the Israeli foreign affairs minister.

Asked about the response of Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris to the detention of Irish citizens in Egypt, Mr Murphy said: “He rang me on Saturday morning when I finally had an Egyptian phone and expressed well wishes and I understand he did issue a statement later on that day which was welcome.

“From our perspective, it would have been preferable if that statement had come when people were still in detention, but the main thing I’m asking Simon Harris to do – and I think we’re asking Simon Harris to do – is not to do more for us.

“It’s to match his strong words of criticism of Israel with actions – to fully implement the Occupied Territories Bill, to stop the overflights of weapons going through our airspace and to stop our Central Bank authorising the sale of Israeli Bonds in the European Union.”

Speaking to reporters before a Cabinet meeting which was held prior to Mr Murphy’s return, Mr Harris said the Occupied Territories Bill would go to Cabinet next week, adding that it would be published and go before the Foreign Affairs Committee this month.

However, Mr Murphy and other opposition figures have criticised the exclusion of services from the bill – which is instead focused on banning the trade of goods between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements.

Meanwhile, Social Democrats Senator Patricia Stephenson said the party had written to the EU’s anti-fraud watchdog requesting an investigation into Ireland’s failure to inspect “high-risk flights” into Shannon Airport.

Speaking to reporters at Leinster House, she said there had been a “lack of credible action from the Government when it comes to Gaza” as she focused on flights.

She said she had written to the watchdog, known as Olaf, to request that it inspects the Government’s protocols and procedures for investigations of high risk aircraft that are travelling through Ireland.

“Under EU legislation, the Government has an obligation to inspect high-risk aircraft,” she said.

Ms Stephenson said this means military-contracted flights or aircraft using known military transport routes, for example to Azerbaijan before being sold to Israel.

She said the Government had an obligation to conduct EU tax and customs duties and inspections to collect relevant duties if the flight is leaving the EU through Ireland.

“Whether the Government is doing that is a different question – because we’ve been told they can’t possibly inspect flights.”

Ms Stephenson said she wrote to Olaf last week and informed the Attorney General about the referral on Monday.

She said she is yet to hear back but added that she did not expect Olaf to be “fast moving”.