Irish artists urge Taoiseach to grant study visas for Gaza students

Prominent Irish artists and public figures have called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to intervene after Ireland refused study visas for 55 Gazan students. The Irish Examiner reported that a dozen initial signatories published an open letter on Friday asking the head of government to act on behalf of the students. [1]

The signatories of the letter include the hip hop group Kneecap, singer Hozier, actor Aisling Bea, actor Siobhán McSweeney, and musician Christy Moore. According to the Irish Examiner, the open letter published in the newspaper asks Micheál Martin to do the decent thing for the students who were denied entry. [1]

The public appeal follows growing scrutiny over student visa rejections for Palestinians. As FTMQ News reported earlier, Ireland refused 114 out of 138 Palestinian study visa applications this year, which is a refusal rate of 83 percent. That represents a sharp rise from 2025, when Ireland rejected 22 out of 164 long-stay study visa applications from Palestine. [6]

The issue has already led to legal and academic pushback. As FTMQ News reported earlier, a group of academics previously urged the Taoiseach to intervene after four Palestinian students were denied visas despite having university places and funding. That cases involved a High Court hearing regarding the defence of the Minister for Justice. [5]