Peaceful vigil in Ballina in support of beleaguered Gaza

Members of the Mayo branch of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign held a peaceful vigil outside Ballina Civic Offices last week.

The vigil was held to coincide with the monthly meeting of Ballina Municipal District, which was taking place inside the building.

In a letter to the Western People, the group's spokesperson Debbie McCole said those attending the vigil wished to reiterate their support for the people of Gaza.

“We gathered ahead of the Municipal District meeting to reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Gaza, and to urge our local representatives to support two key demands: the urgent enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill and the rescinding of the flawed and weaponised International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism,” she wrote.

“Solidarity must go beyond words. It must be political and legislative. The Occupied Territories Bill, which seeks to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, was overwhelmingly supported by the Irish public and passed multiple stages in the Oireachtas, only to be shelved under pressure.

“Likewise, the Government’s unilateral adoption of the IHRA definition undermines free expression and shields Israeli state crimes from criticism.” 

Ms McCole said they received strong support from passing motorists and pedestrians and she called on local councillors and national politicians to continue to make the ongoing genocide in Gaza a key issue.

“Silence and inaction in the face of genocide is not neutrality; it is complicity,” she said.

There has been ongoing support for the people of Gaza in Ballina in recent months. Peaceful vigils that had been taking place on the Ham Bridge every Friday from 5 to 6pm have now resumed.

The weekly ‘Bridgils’ ended in January to coincide with the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian groups but resumed after Israel recently broke the ceasefire with a series of surprise airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18.