Irish President Catherine Connolly has expressed her pride in her sister, Dr Margaret Connolly, who was arrested aboard the Global Resilience flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip.
Dr Margaret Connolly was among at least six Irish nationals arrested during the seizure of flotilla ships by Israeli forces, according to a spokeswoman for an Irish aid organisation supporting the rights of the Palestinian people.
In remarks after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London, Connolly said she was "very proud of her sister, but also worried about her", adding that she had not yet received exact details about her situation or the status of the other activists on board.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the incident may contribute to increasing diplomatic tension between Dublin and Tel Aviv, in light of Ireland's positions critical of the Israeli occupation's policies towards Gaza.
Video documenting the arrest of the Irish president's sister
In the same context, activists in the Freedom Flotilla published a pre-recorded video of Dr. Margaret Connolly, in which she announced that she was arrested by Israeli forces while participating in the trip.
"If you're watching this video, it means that I was kidnapped from my boat in the Freedom Flotilla by the Israeli occupation forces, and now I'm being held illegally in an Israeli prison," Margaret said in the recording, holding her Irish passport and wearing a T-shirt with a map of Ireland.
She added that "the Palestinian struggle is the moral compass of the age," noting that "the Palestinians will save our humanity."
Irish-Israeli relations
On December 15, 2024, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of its embassy in the Irish capital Dublin, in a move that was described as the most intense in the course of diplomatic tension between the two sides during the same year.
The decision was issued under the direction of then-Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who justified the closure by what he described as "the extreme anti-Israel policies pursued by the Irish government," according to the official statement.
The Israeli move came after a series of Irish positions that angered Tel Aviv, most notably Dublin's recognition of the State of Palestine in May 2024 in coordination with Spain and Norway, which Israel considered a "unilateral bias", and the closure came a few days after the Irish government announced that it had officially joined the genocide lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice.
In addition, Ireland has sharply criticized Israel in recent months, accusing it of committing "widespread violations and killing civilians" in the Gaza Strip, which has increased tensions between the two countries.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris described the Israeli decision as "deeply regrettable", stressing that his country is "not anti-Israel", but "supportive of peace, human rights and international law", stressing that Dublin's positions come within the framework of its commitment to humanitarian principles.