In recent weeks, IDEA has been joining calls for urgent Government action to ensure that Gazan students who have secured places and scholarships in Irish higher education are able to take them up.

IDEA CEO Ruairí McKiernan has written to the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan; the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless; and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee, adding IDEA’s voice to calls from across education and civil society for action.

Amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, mass displacement and the destruction of homes, universities and basic infrastructure, IDEA believes that visa processes must take account of the extraordinary conditions these students are living through.

In his letter, Ruairí McKiernan urged the Government to recognise the extraordinary circumstances facing students in Gaza and to ensure that visa processes do not prevent those who have secured places and scholarships from continuing their education in Ireland. He stressed the importance of moving quickly and finding a practical way forward:

“Ireland has spoken clearly about Palestinian rights. Ensuring these students can study here is a meaningful and practical way to stand by those commitments and to offer practical human solidarity.”

IDEA’s intervention reflects our wider commitment to Palestine and to the values at the heart of Development Education and Global Citizenship Education: human rights, justice, equality, solidarity and the right to education.

Over recent years, IDEA and our members have worked to create space for learning, discussion and action on Palestine and the wider questions of justice, human rights and global responsibility it raises. At this critical moment, we believe those values need to be expressed not only through education and public commitments, but through practical action.

For the students affected, the issue is immediate. They have secured opportunities to continue their education in Ireland. IDEA joins those calling on Government to remove the barriers preventing them from taking up those places.

We will continue to stand with our members and others across education and civil society in supporting Palestinian rights and keeping Palestine firmly on the agenda of Development Education and Global Citizenship Education in Ireland.

Solidarity has to have practical meaning. Ensuring these students can continue their education in Ireland is one clear way to show it.