The Research Centre in International Justice, with the support of Academics for Palestine, hosted Niamh Ní Bhriain, Programme Coordinator of War and Pacification at the Transnational Institute, who presented on the themes of EU militarism, arms trade, border regime, and complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
In this hybrid event, Niamh discussed the expansion of the European Union (EU) as a “militarised union”, focusing in particular on the increase in defence spending in the EU Budgets and arms trade by the EU. She linked this spending and trade directly to the militarisation of the EU’s borders, highlighting how those arms companies largely in receipt of EU funding and whose arms cause warfare and forced displacement in the countries they are exported to are the same as those which police (even militarise) its borders. She also discussed the links between the EU’s funding of research and development of armament, Irish universities (including Maynooth through a former Horizon project), and Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
Despite this level of complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, Niamh was hopeful for change given the work being done by members of the European Parliament for Ireland, student protests (most recently, those led by Trinity College Dublin Students Union to have the university divest from Israel), and voting power of the Irish public in the upcoming elections in Ireland. She urged those in attendance to continue to apply pressure, particularly at the voting booth this election, to hold those in power to account.
This presentation was held during the module LW667: Transnational and Global Crime which is offered as part of the MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice. The MA is one of four postgraduate programmes offered by the School of Law and Criminology in Maynooth University and can be completed on a full or part-time basis.