GARDAI have been alerted that protests in Donegal against Ireland’s soccer match against Israel could cause rush hour disruption amid chronic traffic problems.
European football body UEFA scheduled Ireland to play against Israel this Sunday, September 27, in Hungary and again in Serbia on October 4 as part of the latest Nations League campaign.
Protesters attached to the Stop The Game campaign want the fixtures called off due to accusations of genocide against Israel.
Protests in Letterkenny are scheduled to be held on the Port Bridge beside the Polestar Roundabout on the Port Road.
The conflict in Gaza has been going on for nearly three years and will reach that milestone in just two weeks’ time.
It began when an attack by Palestine group Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, and has since resulted in Israel reprisals that have killed over 70,000 Palestinians and injured another 172,411 people, according to international figures.
A spokesperson for international charity Unicef said: “Since October 7, 2023, until February 3, 2026, some 71,803 Palestinians have been reported killed in the Gaza Strip, including at least 21,289 children.”
As the men’s international soccer team gathered at a hotel in Castleknock, Co Dublin, protesters’ demonstrations were blocked by gardai.
Gardai are now expected to attend protests tomorrow in Letterkenny if demonstrations go ahead at the Port Bridge beside the Polestar Roundabout on the Port Road.
Posters state: “Bridge protest, Stop The Game, on Wednesday, September 23, from 5pm to 6.30pm on Port Bridge, Port Road, Letterkenny.”
The Donegal branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign has also listed on its website additional protests for Thursday at Letterkenny University Hospital from 6pm to 7pm and at Station Roundabout near Letterkenny Shopping Centre from 12pm to 2pm on Saturday.
A spokesperson said: “These are morally indefensible games. Please take action and write to the CEO of the Football Association of Ireland to ask the FAI not to play these matches.”
The game is to be broadcast on free-to-air TV by national broadcaster RTE without a studio presentation or in-game commentary – but some pubs have vowed not to show it and have called for a boycott of it.
European football body UEFA scheduled Ireland to play Israel this Sunday, September 27, in Hungary as part of the latest Nations League campaign.
One bar boss urged “clubs, pubs, and venues” which are “not showing the Ireland-Israel match” to add their names to an online petition.
Donegal politicians like County Cllr Jack Murray criticised RTE’s decision to broadcast the game.
He said: “RTE announced there will be minimal TV coverage. No studio, no punditry and no advertising.
“We’re tying ourselves in knots going as far as possible, yet not doing enough.
“If the circumstances are recognised as so extraordinary — with an ongoing genocide being carried out by the opposing country — that the game has to be hidden away and the broadcast stripped to the bare minimum, then the obvious question is: why are we playing it at all?”
Cllr Murray added: “Ireland should not take to the field against Israel. The game should not go ahead.”
Seamus Coleman with his children Lily, Blake and Ellie, at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Earlier this year, Donegal TD Charles Ward accused the FAI of failing players like Killybegs man Seamus – who spoke out against conflict in June past.
Ex-Ireland skipper Seamus, who retired from club football in April but did not hang up his international boots, said last month: “It is awful what is happening.”
He added: “I am a dad, I am a husband. I’ve got a heart, I know the difference between right and wrong.”