GAA Palestine has suffered a loss of €38,000 on non-refundable travel arrangements after the Department of Justice refused their visa application last week to bring 33 children from the West Bank on a two-week tour of Ireland, the organisation said on Tuesday.
The group said the Irish Embassy in Tel Aviv had insisted on the purchase of flights before visas were approved, which the organisation condemned as “reckless”. It receives no central funding and relied on donations to fund its trip.
GAA Palestine was established in early 2024 and is not officially recognised by the GAA authority in Ireland, though organisers have said this process is nearing completion.
The group was due to arrive in Dublin this Friday, with plans to play a series of friendly and competitive hurling matches with clubs across the island, visit various localities and partake in intercultural exchange activities.
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They were to return to the West Bank two weeks later on August 1st. They were informed last Wednesday, 10 days before their planned departure, of their visa applications being refused.
Describing the situation as “deeply disappointing”, the group said it was hopeful that a last-minute resolution could be found.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in the Dáil he is “perplexed” at the way GAA Palestine approached seeking visas for the 33 Gazan children and 14 adults to travel to Ireland.
He said “the whole thing seems haphazardly organised”, as he questioned why no appeal had been made, a week after visas were initially refused.
Mr Martin said he was worried a “certain narrative” is being created that the Government is anti-Palestinian or not facilitating Palestinians coming to Ireland through medical evacuations or with the GAA Palestine organisation for a hurling summer tour.
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Sinn Féin’s Ruairí Ó Murchú said an appeal was lodged with the Department of Justice at 1.15pm on Tuesday and he hoped the visas could be delivered by 2pm tomorrow. Otherwise “there will be an issue in relation to moving through with the issue of violence from settlers because that’s the reality that these children are dealing with”.
Mr Martin told TDs, “I am dealing with this” but said that “given a week has passed since the original decision I find the whole thing somewhat perplexing”.
He told TDs “normally, what would happen is a sporting organisation would come to the Government and say ‘we want to organise’ well in advance” and that “there’s something wrong here”.
It was a serious matter and they could not ignore normal visa procedures, he said. They had to have proper documentation, proper passports and there had to be consent for children travelling with adults who are not their parents.
