239. Ireland: The Outlier - Understanding Ireland’s Sympathy for Palestine
10 September 2026
About This Episode
Why is Ireland an outlier when it comes to attitudes towards Israel and Palestine? Fender Jackson speaks with political scientists Dr Liam Kneafsey of Trinity College Dublin and Dr Miceal Canavan of Queen’s University Belfast about their research into Irish public opinion on the conflict. Based on a nationally representative survey of 1,547 people in the Republic of Ireland, their work examines the unusually high level of Irish engagement with the conflict and the factors associated with sympathy for Palestinians. The conversation explores historical memory, colonialism and oppression, Irish unity, political ideology, political parties, media consumption, antisemitism and Islamophobia. It also raises a deeper question: is it history itself that shapes attitudes, or the stories a society tells about its history?
Dr Liam Kneafsey & Dr Miceal Canavan
Dr Miceal Canavan is a Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at Queens University Belfast. His research examines political attitudes and behaviour, including how history and identity shape the way people understand contemporary political conflicts. Alongside Liam Kneafsey, he is co-author of the 2026 study The Long Shadow of the Past: How Irish History Shapes Attitudes Towards the Israel–Palestine Conflict, based on a representative survey of 1,547 people in the Republic of Ireland.
Dr Liam Kneafsey is Assistant Professor in Political Science at Trinity College Dublin. His research interests include Irish politics, political behaviour, political psychology, political communication, conflict and peace. He is the co-author, with Miceal Canavan, of The Long Shadow of the Past, which investigates why Irish public opinion on Israel and Palestine differs so markedly from that found elsewhere in Western Europe.