Government accused of ‘shirking responsibility’ on war bonds - Conaty

A local councillor has accused the Irish government of “shirking responsibility” for the humanitarian concern of millions of Palestinians by enabling the financing of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza through the sale of Israeli bonds.

Sinn Féin’s Stiofán Conaty’s scathing attack follows a motion he tabled at the June monthly meeting of Cavan County Council calling for a ban on the Central Bank of Ireland from selling Israeli bonds and other financial instruments issued by occupying powers.

It is estimated that more than 58,000 people have died in Gaza in attacks since October 2023.

In June Cllr Conaty condemned the Israeli State’s actions - including the mass killing of civilians, the weaponisation of starvation, and the destruction of critical infrastructure - as acts of “genocide”, ethnic cleansing, and violations of international law.

The Sinn Féin representative also highlighted that by the Central Bank authorising the sale of these bonds, it is helping to raise capital for the Israeli government and implicating Ireland in the funding of war crimes.

“This is a stain on the Irish State, and the Central Bank has blood on its hands,” claimed Cllr Conaty, whose proposal included writing to the Department of Finance.

The office of Minister Paschal Donohoe responded in time for the July monthly meeting of elected members, saying the Central Bank is limited in its actions and is “obliged” to approve a prospectus once certain conditions are met.

“The fact that the Central Bank approved a prospectus does not mean it endorses the issuer or the securities,” the letter from the minister stressed.

“The Central Bank does not issue, sell, trade or list Israeli sovereign bonds. The bonds themselves are not authorised or supervised by the Central Bank and are not listed for sale on the Irish Stock Exchange.”

Recently, the letter went on to explain, the Irish government opposed a Bill brought forward by Sinn Féín with the stated aim of preventing the Central Bank from carrying out its regulatory function with respect to the prospectus. However the Bill was determined by the government to be “ineffective”.

“The government also sought advice from the Attorney General’s Office that to introduce such measures as contained would likely conflict with our obligations as a Member State of the European Union.”

The letter continued by saying that Ireland “must prioritise” co-ordinated action through the mechanisms of the EU or the UN to ensure that any measures taken against Israel are “robust and internationally respected”.

They conclude that Ireland has intervened in South Africa’s International Court of Justice case against Israel under the Genocide Convention, and supported the recent Dutch proposal to review the EU’s trade and political relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“These are concrete measures we have undertaken with the express purpose of building an international coalition to stop the horrors in Gaza perpetrated by Israel,” the letter asserted.