A lobbying group dedicated to “standing up for Israel” wrote to government last year requesting the Irish state adopt a controversial definition of antisemitism – and the Department of Justice assured the lobbyists that Ireland’s hate speech legislation would address some of their concerns.
Late last October attorney general Rossa Fanning wrote to Simon Harris, Micheál Martin and Roderic O'Gorman. In his letter Fanning gave the government ministers advice on the Occupied Territories Bill – legislation that has been blocked by successive governments for the last seven years.
The former chief legal counsel for Guantanamo Bay’s detention camps leads the US agency the Irish Department of Defence has hired to advise Ireland on expanding the state’s military.
Legal counsel appointed by the attorney general approved an opposition bill banning the state investing in companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements – but government has blocked the legislation since 2023.
The attorney general told government that replacing the Occupied Territories Bill rather than amending it would be a "political choice" and not a legally necessary one.
