Ireland’s President Catherine Connolly makes a speech during the ‘4th Meeting in Defense of Democracy’ held at Fira Barcelona Gran Via in LaHospitalet de Llobregat, in Barcelona, Spain on 18 April 2026. [Getty]
The sister of Ireland’s president, Catherine Connolly, is among eight Irish citizens abducted in international waters by Israel on Gaza-bound aid flotilla ships, organisers said Monday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla vessels are the latest in a string of attempts by activists to break Israel’s illegal blockade of the Palestinian coastal territory.
Around 50 ships had departed from southwestern Turkey on Thursday.
“Global Sumud Flotilla is under attack!” the group wrote on X.
“The Israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers.”
Margaret Connolly, an Irish doctor and President Connolly’s sister, was among those “illegally kidnapped” by Israel, organisers said in a statement sent to AFP.
“Eight Irish people have been illegally detained in this operation,” it said.
President Connolly, on a planned trip to the UK, told reporters after talks in London with King Charles III that the news was “upsetting”.
“I’m very worried about her, and I’m also very concerned about her colleagues on board,” she said, adding she did not have any details.
Videos posted by the organisers on social media showed Connolly and five others, who appear to have been recorded before their detention.
In her video, Connolly said: “If you are watching this video, it means I have been kidnapped from my boat in the flotilla by the Israeli occupying forces”.
“Her participation in this flotilla was her own decision and not related to President Connolly,” organisers said.
Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s genocide of Gaza, and recognised the Palestinian state in 2024.
Soon after, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of the Israeli embassy in Dublin.
