A controversial pro-Israel lobbying group made an “urgent suggestion” to Micheál Martin’s department about lines to include in a speech he gave – and the taoiseach complied.
The Claims Conference – whose vice president had to cancel a trip over fears of a war crimes arrest – told Martin’s department, “We realize that this is very short notice, but the concept is pretty simple.”
Two days later, on National Holocaust Memorial Day, Martin gave a speech and said, “I want to pay tribute to the work of the Claims Conference” – an organisation accused of major factual distortions – and included the line the organisation considered important.
The urgent suggestion
Micheál Martin’s Department of the Taoiseach was in contact with the Claims Conference about a report it had conducted about Holocaust denial.
RTÉ, the Irish Independent and the Irish Times all reported on the survey despite serious criticism of the Claims Conference’s survey methodology for previous similar reports. This particular Irish report claimed nine percent of Irish nine percent of adults aged 18-29 believe the Holocaust is a “myth”.
On 20 January, Claims Conference chief communications officer Jamie Schaefer-Wilson wrote to Martin’s deputy chief of staff Pat McParland indicating a prior in-person meeting, according to correspondence released to The Ditch under freedom of information.
“It was great meeting you,” she said, sending embargoed data from her organisation’s survey which would be published the next day. “Please reach out with any questions.” Schaefer-Wilson wrote again a few hours later with additional data from the survey.
On 23 January came the “urgent suggestion”.
Claims Conference president Gideon Taylor emailed the department about Martin’s upcoming speech on Holocaust Memorial Day, 25 January.
He “felt that the roll-out of the survey today was very good indeed. It seemed to us that the media coverage was very serious and followed the measured, balanced message that we were all giving,” he wrote.
“There was one urgent idea” he said he and others “were discussing today and wanted to share with you as it might be something that the taoiseach would consider including as an additional item in his speech on Sunday.”
Taylor – who last year told the Times of Israel that increased Holocaust education is needed, in part, to combat the perception that Israel’s actions in Gaza are similar to those of the Nazis – described an education initiative.
It would connect Irish schools with Holocaust survivors in the US through video conferencing. He suggested the taoiseach include it in his speech.
“It does seem like a confluence of factors might make this an ideal moment to move very quickly indeed in time for the speech. It would be an opportunity for the taoiseach to speak about a new initiative that is important for Irish students, creative, global and that meets the needs of this exact moment,” he wrote.
He said the Irish Jewish community and Holocaust Awareness Ireland would “formally propose this concept to the minister of education next week”.
“It seemed to us that given the momentum that is coming from the release of the survey today, together with the platform of the taoiseach’s speech on Sunday, it might be ideal for the taoiseach to announce this in his speech, or at least announce the outline of the plan,” he wrote.
“I would be happy to move very quickly on this over the next day or two if you think it is worth exploring in time for the speech,” wrote Taylor.
Martin included the suggested line in his speech two days later.
“And the Claims Conference, along with the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland has come forward with a very interesting proposal about giving schools access to Survivors via video-conference to discuss and learn from their experiences, which I will also explore with the minister,” he said.
Martin also referenced the research which he called “sobering”.
His department was contacted for comment.
