INTO motion targets GAA sponsorship links with Allianz over Israeli weapon firm investment
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) was also urged to back calls for the GAA to end its links with insurance giant Allianz over its investment links to an Israeli weapons firm.INTO members warned the GAA that while they were not telling the organisation what to do, the Cumann na mBunscol competition is in INTO-run schools and teachers find it unacceptable for a major firm, which has investment links to Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems, should be sponsoring an Irish children's competition.A special motion was brought in private session before the INTO's Killarney conference.News in 90 seconds - April 7th 2026 Debate on the motion took place in private sessions over both Monday and Tuesday - and the vote came after a 'tapestry of solidarity' was displayed by INTO members around the conference hall before Education Minister Hildegard Naughton delivered her keynote address.Several delegates carried Palestinian flags during the solidarity march.Following Ms Naughton's speech a number of INTO delegates also held up signs demanding the enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill.Now, a motion passed with heavy support demanded that the INTO adds the voice of the union “to the calls from within the GAA to demand an immediate end to Allianz’s sponsorship of GAA activities, in particular its sponsorship of Cumann na mBunscol."The sweeping motion also condemned the continued failure of the Government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill.INTO members have maintained strong solidarity with the teachers and pupils in Palestine.Union members have now demanded substantive action from the Government in relation to "human rights abuses within the educational system."Major concerns were also expressed relevant to procurement of services in schools, in particular over insurance.It noted: "the findings of the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, linking Allianz to investments in companies involved with Israel's actions in Gaza, including weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems."The motion further noted: "the ongoing presence of other multinational corporations associated with human rights abuses within the educational system."INTO General Secretary John Boyle warned there "can be no hiding place for those who cause the deliberate destruction of childhood.""We need a Government that shows the courage once demonstrated by the Dunnes Stores workers who helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa – a Government willing to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and show that Ireland will not be complicit in human rights’ violations,” he said."It may be too late for the tens of thousands of Palestinian school children, but the trade union movement in Ireland – including the INTO – is determined to use its voice to end all human rights abuses, and those leading to the death and slaughter of children are of constant concern to our members."There can be no hiding place for those who cause the deliberate destruction of childhood. As President Connolly said last month: ‘The world cannot afford inaction any longer'."INTO officials confirmed that the motion, voted on in private session, was passed with overwhelming support by the 900-plus delegates.Delegates have now demanded that the union’s Central Executive Committee: "puts a co-ordinated campaign in place aimed at encouraging all schools and management bodies to adopt a rights’ based Ethical Procurement Policy."This would be done: "in order to ensure that every endeavour be made to ensure that schools’ tender processes regarding the purchasing of goods and services be consistent with the principles of the (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Sullivan Principles."Cork native Anita Hogan of INTO’s District 15 seconded the motion."We are not telling them (the GAA) what to do. We are not telling them when to do it. We are saying Cumann na mBunscol is in our schools. It’s made up of our teachers. It’s simply not acceptable that the (such a large) private investor in Israeli Government bonds is the main sponsor of a children’s competition," she said."A corporation that gives money to an army that tortures children, maims children, leaves babies to die in unplugged incubators; that targets children. That sees every child in Gaza and the West Bank down the viewfinder of a rifle."This motion does not offer funding alternatives. It does demand that we begin to seriously look for them. It suggests, to those with ears to hear and hearts to feel that no money is better than any money from a corporation as heavily invested in a genocidal army as Allianz is."Maura Flynn of INTO’s Dublin City South West branch – a camogie player throughout her life – backed the motion."Let me begin with a classroom in Gaza – not a classroom as we imagine it, but a tent. Inside, there are about 30 children sitting on the ground. Some are holding torn notebooks, others have nothing but a pencil,” she said."In the middle of the lesson, a loud sound echoes nearby. The children freeze. One child covers his ears. Another looks at the teacher, not asking about the lesson, but asking silently: Are we safe?"
