Debunked: Ceann Comhairle did not say immigrants were responsible for rising antisemitism

REPORTS THAT SEÁN Ó Fearghaíl, the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann, had blamed immigrants for rising levels of antisemitism in Ireland during a speech were mis-reported.

Recordings of the comments, which are not easily accessible, show that Ó Fearghaíl in fact said that rising antisemitism was connected to rising anti-immigrant sentiment.

“The Ceann Comhairle is being quoted as saying that migrants and the extreme left are responsible for an upsurge in anti-semitism in Ireland,” People Before Profit–Solidarity TD Paul Murphy wrote on Twitter last night. “This is absolutely scandalous.”

Murphy includes a screenshot from website of The Jewish Chronicle, a London-based outlet that describes itself as the “oldest and most influential Jewish newspaper”.

The story largely focuses on a visit to Auschwitz death camp in Poland by entrepreneur Elon Musk and US conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, organised as part of a series of events and talks by the European Jewish Association.

“Speaking as part of another panel, Sean O Fearghail, President of Parliament [sic], Ireland, claimed Ireland’s small community of about 2,100 individuals has experienced ‘very little’ antisemitism, and is ‘much beloved’ by the Irish people,” the article reads.

“He noted however the community is “concerned” over anti-Israel demonstrations and rising antisemitism, partly due to a “massive influx of immigrants” who bring with them some ‘unsavoury’ views, but also because it is coming from “not just the extreme right, but from the left also.”

Video footage of the remarks were not easily accessible. However, they can be found about 4-and-a-half hours into a Facebook Live steam, and show Ó Fearghaíl saying something rather different.

“It involves not just the extreme right, but the left also,” Ó Fearghaíl said of antisemitism in Ireland. “And it’s connected, not just to the crisis in Gaza, but it’s connected to a reaction across Ireland to a massive influx of immigrants into our country.

“I’m hugely proud that Ireland has opened its doors to people from all over the world, but particularly from Ukraine, just as countries all around the world opened their doors to Irish people when we were forced to emigrate.

“72 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry. So, we are the last nation on Earth to be unwelcoming to the immigrant.

“But there are elements, unsavoury elements, elements that promote hate and dissention, and that’s what links what’s happening in Ireland to what you’re doing here.”

Paul Murphy would later post a reply to his own tweet saying that Ó Fearghaíll was “misquoted on the migrants, blaming the rise of anti-migrant sentiments, not the migrants themselves.

“But he’s accurately quoted in blaming the left for anti-semitism and calling for Hezbollah an ‘evil plague on humanity’ which ‘must be brought to an end’.

The Journal FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here.