Sinn Féin European Election candidate for Ireland South, Senator Paul Gavan has described as “utterly shameful” remarks made by Fianna Fáil’s Cynthia Ní Mhurchú in this morning’s Irish Examiner where she compared a petition by Irish artists calling on Bambie Thug to boycott the Eurovision to “the oppressive tactics that Israel is employing in Gaza”.

Senator Gavan said; “The oppressive tactic employed by Israel in Gaza is the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of men, women and children. We are also talking about violent displacement of a refugee population, starvation, disease and the destruction of entire neighbourhoods, hospitals, schools, and civilian infrastructure.

“For Cynthia Ní Mhurchú to equate war crimes with a petition is off the wall.

“It’s utterly shameful to draw any equivalence between the atrocity perpetrated against the Palestinian people and the admirable moral stand taken by 400 respected Irish artists. To then describe these artists as ‘a mob’ is disgraceful. These comments are arrogant and deeply insulting.

“To make such a crass comparison you’d have to ask if she has taken in any of the horrors inflicted on the people of Gaza over the last eight months. The article truly beggars belief. Nobody with any sense of what’s happening in Gaza could stand over these comments.

“Ms Ní Mhurchú should have used the platform presented to her by a national newspaper to call for an immediate ceasefire and for an end to the brutalisation of the Palestinian people. That she used the opportunity instead to lash out at people taking a stand for the human rights of Gaza’s beleaguered men, women and children is outrageous.

“I wonder if Ms Ní Mhurchú’s Fianna Fáil colleagues agree with her remarks? Does Fianna Fáil Leader, Micheál Martin think this is an appropriate comparison to make? Do Fianna Fáil MEPs, Billy Kelleher and Barry Andrews agree? They should call on her to immediately withdraw her remarks.”