A protester was removed by Gardai from a demonstration outside O’Reilly Hall this morning. At the time of writing, he has moved his protest to outside of UCD campus.
After setting up a tent reading, ‘Saoirse don Phalaistin,’ and beginning to paint banners, the individual was removed from the green area outside O’Reilly Hall. He was told to “leave or be arrested”, before being escorted by members of An Garda Síochána off campus. He then set up his tent and banners off UCD property, by the bus stop serving students coming to campus via the N11.
One student who witnessed the man being removed from his original location commented, “[He] wasn’t causing any harm, wasn’t disrupting anyone. After a few minutes, excessive amounts of police were surrounding him.”
Witnesses saw the individual walking away from O’Reilly Hall with three members of An Garda Síochána behind him. The individual did not appear to be forcibly removed, but was put in the position where he had to leave his tent and banners behind.
The individual’s property, including his tent, banners, and personal belongings, were left by the lake. UCD Estates removed the individual’s belongings. UCD Estates refused one student’s offer to take the individual's belongings themselves. “They’ve moved everything, saying he’s fully aware and just left his stuff there, which he absolutely didn’t,” one student commented.
UCD Estates claimed that the individual had given them permission to do so. The individual confirmed to the University Observer that this was untrue, and that he did not give anyone permission to take his belongings. The man also claimed that a member of An Garda Síochána attempted to cut his bike lock.
Speaking to the University Observer, the man said, “Today I came to UCD for the Irish complicity in the genocide. For a long time, academia has done nothing, it’s just been silent, and I want to say that silence is not good . . . Academia in Europe in general, total silence. They’re not neutral. You can’t be neutral.”
He continued, “They are part of Elbit, working for the Elbit. Elbit is Zionist. Using our science, our labour, for the IDF, for the Zionist entity. And then they’re committing genocide. This isn’t just complicity, this is participation.”
UCD is part of the EU-funded consortium, CATALOOP, a €2.6m artificial intelligence research project which includes Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, and the Technion (Israel’s Institute of Technology). The Technion directly works with Israel’s arms industry, including its top weapons manufacturer Elbit systems. Technion develops technology that is used in Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
“Today I came to protest. UCD kicked me out from the campus. They said, you’re not a student, if you’re not a student, you can’t protest - this is private property. 34,000 people and they’re claiming this is private property. And you have no right to say something,” the man commented. "Then after, the guards came. [They said] arrest or leave, two options."
At the time of writing, the individual has relocated his protest outside of UCD, at the N11 bus stop. This area is public property following a compulsory purchase order in 2023 as part of the Bray to City Centre Core Bus Corridor Scheme.
In a comment to the University Observer, a representative of UCD BDS said, “UCD BDS support anyone’s right to protest, and the fact is that UCD as a university needs to do better in terms of supporting Palestine and supporting sanctions against Israel, so we do support this action on campus.”
Members of UCD Estates refused to comment. UCD has been approached for comment. UCDSU has been approached for comment.