Republic of Ireland players to discuss staging protest before playing Israel

The Republic of Ireland squad will come together and discuss whether to stage a protest before playing Israel this weekend in the first of two controversial Uefa Nations League games, captain Dara O’Shea has said.

Ireland will play Israel in Hungary on Sunday amid calls back home for the team to boycott the fixtures, with campaigners staging a “Stop the Game” protest outside the team’s hotel in Dublin earlier this week.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) wrote to Uefa last year calling for the suspension of the Israel Football Association due to the conflict in Gaza, but its members voted to fulfil the fixtures due to the risk of sporting sanctions.

The Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson was then criticised by the Israel FA this week after he said they would be “playing against genocide”, adding that “none of us feel comfortable playing in these games”.

O’Shea said the Irish team have been put in a “difficult” and “unusual” situation ahead of the two games against Israel and will make a decision on what to do following their first fixture of the international window against Kosovo on Thursday.

“We spoke already that we will come together on Friday and discuss it as a group,” O’Shea said. “I don’t think we would be doing our job probably if we didn’t put our focus into the game [against Kosovo]. We will come together and discuss it openly on Friday.

“Of course it’s a difficult situation and an unusual one to find ourselves in. For me, first and foremost, at club or international level, it’s important we all come together and speak openly. We have to respect each other’s views.

“We need to sit down and take the time, because it deserves the time to talk about, that’s the main thing. It’s something that can’t be brushed over. I think whatever the decision we come to as players will be taken as one. Everyone’s views have to be respected as well.”

O’Shea said the team will be staying off social media this week ahead of further demonstrations back in Ireland. A group of over 160 Irish sportspeople have signed an open letter issued by the Irish Sport for Palestine Group urging the FAI to reconsider its previous decision to go ahead with the fixtures.

The Republic of Ireland will play Israel in their away game in Hungary on Sunday, before they stage their ‘home’ fixture against Israel in Serbia on 4 October. The FAI requested to move the game away from Dublin due to security concerns.

The FAI previously said that refusing to play against Israel could weaken their chances of qualifying for Euro 2028, when they will be co-hosts, as well as future World Cups. A vote of FAI delegates in July saw 75 members elect to play the matches, against 32 members who wanted to boycott them.

The FAI wrote to Uefa last November calling for the immediate suspension of the Israel FA, and has since lodged a request with Uefa to separate the Republic of Ireland from Israel in future draws. The FAI said the request was denied because the two countries have “never been in direct conflict”.

Meanwhile, Hallgrimsson said he feels “grateful for the support” he has received after he was accused of “ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity” by the Israel Football Association – but admitted the comments he made before the upcoming meeting of the two countries were “maybe not clever from me”.

The Irish taoiseach Michael Martin called the comments from the Israel FA “unacceptable” and said they “should be withdrawn” while speaking with reporters when attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

“Obviously we are grateful for all the support we have,” Hallgrimsson told a press conference on Wednesday. “Creating the headlines from what I said last time has taken the attention away from what is maybe most important, we are playing an important game against Kosovo.

“That was not the purpose and maybe from a leadership point of view it was not clever from me, to take the attention like this. I need to be focused on the game need and the players need to be focused on the game. To answer the question, we’re thankful for the support we get. It’s a tricky time for us.”

The Israeli government has vehemently denied the charges of genocide since their retaliation to the October 7 attacks almost three years ago, when about 1,200 people were killed by Hamas and 250 people were taken hostage. Over 70,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the war in Gaza, according to figures used by the United Nations.