Members of the NUJ gathered on the steps of the Hugh Lane Galley in Dublin’s Parnell Square on Monday 29 April to remember the journalists killed in the war in Gaza.
The gallery steps overlook the capital city’s Garden of Remembrance and poignantly had previously been the venue for a vigil held to mark the killing of journalist Lyra McKee.
NUJ vice presidents Gerry Curran and Fran McNulty, Cearbhaill O’Siochain chair of the union’s Irish Executive Council (IEC), press ombudsman Susan McKay and Ian McGuinness, Irish organiser were among those who read from the list of the 109 journalists featured on the IFJ list of slain journalists.
A minute’s silence was observed following the reading of the list. In welcoming the attendance, which included a group of visiting Czech journalists and colleague trade unionists, Séamus Dooley renewed calls for a permanent ceasefire and said the NUJ remains gravely concerned at the treatment of journalists by the Israeli government.
The event marked International Workers’ Memorial Day and focussed on the killing of journalists in Gaza. Last year the EC hosted a similar event at the Garden of Remembrance to remember all journalists killed in the line of duty in the period since the last Irish Delegate Conference.
Séamus Dooley said the journalists killed were slain because of their profession. In remembering those who have died we should also remember those injured and all who had lost loved ones.
It is vital, he said, that journalists should be free to enter Gaza and to report on the war. The terrible horror which has unfolded in Gaza was a story which must be covered.
Congress has adopted the ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) slogan for this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day which is “Workplace health and safety – it’s your right”.