Dublin author Naoise Dolan will be joining a new flotilla as it aims to break the Israeli siege on Gaza, she has announced.
The Global Sumud Flotilla will consist of dozens of small vessels carrying activists from 44 countries and provisions for the people of Gaza, who are in the midst of widespread starvation, according to the World Food Programme. The aim of the flotilla, a long-running tactic that pre-dates the 2023 invasion, is “to open up a humanitarian corridor, and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy is also among more than 10 Irish people who will join the largest-ever flotilla, he said on Friday.
Dolan wrote on Instagram that she is participating in the flotilla to protest against what she described as the Irish government’s complicity in the Israeli genocide of the people of Gaza. “Palestinians are being murdered, and we lose our own humanity if we don’t stand with them,” she said.
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In an updated post, the author of Exciting Times (2020) and The Happy Couple (2023) wrote that “This is a peaceful humanitarian action, and it is a completely legal response to the crimes of genocide, collective punishment and an illegitimate siege. We are trying to get medical supplies and baby formula to people being indiscriminately bombed and starved.”
“We are acting on principles of mutual aid and solidarity, not charity.”
The flotilla will set sail from Barcelona on August 31st and from Tunis and Sicily on September 4th. The author did not disclose which location she would be leaving from.
Paul Murphy is set to depart from Tunis after joining training with other participants on August 31st. He was detained in Egypt earlier this year on a land march to the Rafah crossing.
“I am joining the flotilla because the horror in Gaza is deepening day by day,” he said. “A man-made famine is killing children, while Israel bombs hospitals and assassinates journalists to prevent the truth from getting out. On a daily basis people are slaughtered while queueing for food. The siege must be broken and food and medical supplies must get through.”
He criticised the Irish Government for its inaction, saying that it “correctly names this genocide, but refuses to act in line with that characterisation”.
The flotilla’s steering committee includes Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Greek historian Kleoniki Alexopoulou, Brazilian socio-environmentalist Thiago Ávila, and Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek.
This is the second attempt by Thunberg and Ávila to break the siege on Gaza by boat. Their first attempt in June 2025 was curtailed when Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen aid boat and detained the 12 activists on board.
Actor Susan Sarandon is also expected to join this effort.
No flotillas have been successful in breaking the blockade on Gaza since 2010.
Dolan has previously condemned the inaction of western governments in Irish media and at public demonstrations.
She was one of almost 400 writers in Ireland who signed an Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict in June of this year.
Irish author Sally Rooney said in The Irish Times earlier this month that she intends to use proceeds from her work to support the organisation Palestine Action, despite the risk of being prosecuted under UK law which proscribes the group as a terrorist organisation.
