Should Portlaoise be twinned with a town in Palestine? An MEP for Laois thinks so

A politician who represents Laois voters in Europe wants a mass campaign that would see Irish and Palestinian towns twinned.

Grace O'Sullivan is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Ireland South. 

The Green Party MEP is convinced that towns like Portlaoise and Portarlington should form links with Palestinian communities.

"Twinning is a simple but important act of solidarity that can also bring lasting personal and commercial links between distant countries. Some of the Palestinian towns we could twin with live under the constant threat of demolition by Israel, and twinning could help bring international attention to their cause.” 

While Laois is twinned with Franklin in Tennessee in the USA and Portlaoise is linked with Coulounieix-Chamiers in the Dordogne département of France, other towns have taken a different approach around Ireland.

Towns like Tralee have already twinned with the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem, while Waterford City is in the process of twinning with the administrative capital of Palestine, Ramallah. 

MEP O'Sullivan's call also follows the one-year anniversary of the extra-judicial killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli military. 

MEP O’Sullivan has led the campaign in the European Parliament for the EU to step in and back an independent investigation into the murder of the Palestinian journalist. 

She has also sharply criticised the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to sign a multi-million euro gas deal with Israel not long after Abu Akleh's murder. 

On World Press Freedom Day (May 3), she said, "Press freedom is increasingly under attack all over the world. In Ireland it comes in the form of trivial legal suits brought by powerful individuals with deep pockets.

"In many countries, being a journalist is one of the most dangerous jobs to undertake. We must stand up for press freedom while we have the voice to do it with."

O'Sullivan will be part of a commemoration for Abu Akleh in the European Parliament on the 11th of May with MEPs and the journalist’s colleagues.  

Her Cork Constituency Office will reportedly host a commemorative event on the anniversary of Abu Akleh's death next Thursday 11th of May at 7.30pm. 

€600k on the way for Laois school maintenance

Members of the public are invited to attend a screening of the Al Jazeera documentary about her murder, and hear from Palestinian and Irish voices about cooperation, solidarity and the path forward.