Together with 30+ partners from across civil society and the trade union movement, Comhlámh and Comhlámh Justice for Palestine have written to Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin. We ask the Government to request that UN Secretary-General António Guterres convene an Emergency Special Session at September’s UN General Assembly, invoking Resolution 377 (“Uniting for Peace”) so the General Assembly can act where Security Council vetoes have stalled action, including consideration of a UN peacekeeping force for Gaza. Citing Ireland’s long-standing leadership on Palestine and international justice, the letter highlights ongoing killings, famine and displacement that amount to war crimes and ethnic cleansing, and urges Ireland to lead. Read the full text and signatories below.
Dear Taoiseach
There is an opportunity for our Government to request the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, to call an Emergency Special Session (ESS) at the forthcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting this September. The purpose of this ESS would be to discuss the situation in Gaza and get the UN take an active part in protecting the civilians in Gaza – up to and including raising a peace-keeping force.
This can be done under Resolution 377 “Uniting for Peace”, as it allows the UNGA to act when the UN Security Council is deadlocked by vetoes.
An ESS requires a simple majority of Member states to call for it, although it then requires a 2/3rds majority of those present and voting to agree on proposed actions. We request that you ensure that our UN representative calls on the other 192 Member states to join this demand.
Resolution 377 can be used on those occasions when the Security Council is deadlocked by vetoes. This is such an occasion; on the 4th of June 2025 a draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass in the UN Security Council after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backed by all ten elected members of the Council.
Emergency Special Sessions, often using Resolution 377 have been used throughout the history of the UN – including during the Korean War, the Suez Canal crisis. It was used in relation to Bangladesh in 1971, Afghanistan in 1980, and Israel in 1982 and most recently in 2022 as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Resolution is strong enough to give the UNGA the right to raise a peace-keeping force.
The situation is urgent. Civilians are being killed on a daily basis by Israeli forces and through its deliberate actions are causing famine, which is, in itself, a war crime. The Irish government joined the South African case at the ICJ to investigate if genocide was taking place.
Plans to bomb and destroy Gaza City and to move the population to a so-called safe zone, are acts of ethnic cleansing and have to be stopped. The Irish people have shown in their protests that we are demanding action from our Government.
Irish Governments have a good track record and have shown leadership on the issue of Palestine. Now is the time for leadership.
Yours etc,
TONY DALY, CEO, 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World;
JOHN REYNOLDS, Academics for Palestine;
KAROL BALFE, CEO Action Aid;
KATIE MARTIN, COORDINATOR, Afri;
MAEVE MCLAUGHLIN, DIRECTOR, Bloody Sunday Trust;
STEPHEN MCCLOSKEY, DIRECTOR, Centre for Global Education
CAROLINE MURPHY, CEO, Comhlámh;
SEAN O’BRIAIN, Comhlámh Justice for Palestine;
DERMOT BARRY, Cork Palestine Solidarity;
ANNE O’BRIEN, Cork Trades Council;
BOBBY MCCORMACK, CEO, Development Perspectives;
DES DERWIN, Dublin Trades Council;
THOMAS MCDONAGH, DIRECTOR, Financial Justice Ireland;
ÁINE UÍ FHOGHLÚ, Gaeil ar son Gaza.
JOE O’BRIEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ICCL;
RUAIRÍ MCKIERNAN, CEO, IDEA;
JOHN BOYLE, GENERAL SECRETARY, INTO;
DR ANGY SKUCE, Irish Health Care Workers for Palestine;
ÁINE HUTCHINSON, Ireland Palestine Mental Health Network;
REBECCA O’KEEFFE and JOANNE MCDONALD, Irish Sports for Palestine;
JACOB WOOLF, Jews for Palestine Ireland;
REV. JOHN PARKIN, Kairos Ireland;
AOIFE HERR, Mothers Against Genocide;
ORLA O’CONNOR, DIRECTOR, National Women’s Council;
WILL HAIRE, CLERK, Ireland Yearly Meeting (Quakers);
SEÁN THIM O’LEARY, PRESIDENT, TCD Students Union;
PAUL MCSWEENEY, Trade Union Friends of Palestine;
SIOBHAN CURRAN, HEAD OF POLICY, Trócaire
ANTHONY QUINN, PRESIDENT, TUI;
BRIAN CUTHBERT, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, Uplift;
MARCELLA HEALY, Waterford for Palestine.
This letter was published in the Irish Times on the 10 September. Read it below.