SEVERAL protestors were removed from the Mansion House as President Michael D. Higgins delivered his keynote speech during a Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration event.
It comes a week after outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, suggested the president should stay away from the event.
Israel announced in December that it was closing its embassy in Dublin, accusing the Irish Government of 'extreme anti-Israel policies' after Ireland recognised the state of Palestine and later intervened in South Africa's International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel under the Genocide Convention.
In his speech, President Higgins said it was important to learn lessons from the Holocaust, with the world experiencing 'rising political authoritarianism, polarisation and violence'.
'Manipulation of language'
RTÉ News reports that about six people stood with their backs to the president during his speech while others walked out.
It added that some were removed by security and gardaí.
During his speech, President Higgins said it was regrettable that confronting the circumstances that permitted the Holocaust was again necessary today.
"We live in times when it seems acceptable by some to employ hatred of the 'Other' as a rhetorical tool, to use hate speech openly, be it in public or online, thus fanning the flames of intolerance and bigotry, promoting difference as a source of fear," he said.
"We live in a world that is enduring a period of rising political authoritarianism, polarisation, and violence. Such an atmosphere threatens democracy, promotes racism, division and exclusion.
"For far too many, the averting of one's gaze is now seen as an acceptable indifference. It is as if the best of aspirations for a cohesive world in conditions of change are being perceived as a lost cause, even an obstacle.”
He added: "The Holocaust was enabled by a regime of systematic murder that began by the manipulation of language and the spreading of fear. We, in our times, must be alert to the identification and confrontation of hate speech in any of its many guises."
'Heavy price paid'
The president welcomed the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas but stressed that it should be used as a springboard for a lasting peace in the region.
"It is to be hoped that those in Israel who mourn their loved ones, those who have been waiting for the release of hostages, or the thousands searching for relatives in the rubble in Gaza will welcome the long-overdue ceasefire for which there has been such a heavy price paid," he said.
"The grief inflicted on families by the horrific acts of October 7, and the response to it, is unimaginable — the loss of civilian life, the majority women and children, their displacement, loss of homes, the necessary institutions for life itself. How can the world continue to look at the empty bowls of the starving?
"The current agreement must end the killing, but, as a matter of urgency, deliver the massive scale-up in humanitarian aid which is urgently needed to save more lives.
"It is important that all remaining hostages are released and that all phases of the agreement are fully implemented.
"It is to be hoped that the agreement will not only bring an end to the horrific loss of life and destruction which has taken place, but that it will also mark the beginning of meaningful discussions, and that the sustained diplomatic initiative which has been missing from the international community, with tragic consequences, will commence, may bring a meaningful peace and security to Israel, Palestine and the greater region, a peace that will address the root causes of the conflict as well as its aftermath, and be premised on the upholding of human rights."
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