Who are the Irish flotilla activists detained and deported by Israel?

FOURTEEN IRISH PEOPLE were among the more than 400 activists deported from Israel to Turkey on Thursday after they were illegally detained by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean while on their way to deliver aid to the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza. 

The Global Sumud Flotilla had been sailing to Gaza when Israeli forces intercepted and boarded its boats. They are expected to return to Ireland on Saturday. 

It was the second raid on the flotilla, after some of the boats were intercepted off the coast of Greece last month. Following that raid, seven Irish people were among those taken by Israeli forces and deposited on the Greek island of Crete. 

The Irish participants come from all around the country and their ages range from 20s to 70s. 

They are Margaret Connolly, Colm Byrne, Michael (Mikey) Cullen, Tom Deasy, Cormac O’Daly, Adam Fitzhenry Collier, Catriona (Cat) Graham, Fra Hughes, Helena Kearns, Louise McCormack, Luke McMenamin, Tara Sheehy, Joshua St Leger and Marius Stanley.

Doctors, poets and more

So, who are the Irish people who were taken from their boats while trying to break the decades-long blockade of the Gaza Strip? 

The most prominent Irish person among the activists is Dr Margaret Connolly, a Sligo-based GP and the sister of President Catherine Connolly. Originally from Galway, she has practised medicine for over 30 years and established her practice in Sligo in 1992. 

Before her detention in Israel, she said she had been protesting in support of the Palestinian people for years and that her activism was informed by a strong sense of justice.

“It goes back to your home and where you’re from, and a sense of what’s right or wrong,” she said. 

She also noted that Israel has no jurisdiction in international waters. 

“They have no right to be bombing, droning or attacking ships on a peaceful humanitarian project to take much-needed aid into Gaza,” she said.

Another of the Irish activists now in Turkey is Cormac O’Daly, a web developer from Killiney in Dublin who is based in Vienna, Austria. 

He told The Journal at the time of the previous interception that the Irish government was “putting our lives at risk by not holding Israel accountable”.

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O’Daly is one of a number of Irish activists who also took part in the last flotilla in autumn 2025. 

Michael (Mikey) Cullen is a poet, musician and qualified secondary school teacher from Dublin.

In a video posted to Instagram just before his boat was intercepted near Cyprus, Cullen said:

“Israel can come into Europe and kidnap us and to no consequence, weak statements, sleeveen statements from governments, or no statements at all from some governments who are hand-in-hand with Israel in prosecuting the genocide of Palestine, the crime of our time.”  

Tom Deasy is a tour guide from West Cork. In a video posted on Instagram shortly after setting sail with the flotilla, he also cited the “failure of governments all over the world” as a reason for joining the attempt to break the Israeli blockade. 

Catriona (Cat) Graham has held roles at a number of non-profit organisations, including Children’s Rights Alliance and the National Women’s Council of Ireland. 

Video of her being pushed to the ground after saying “Free Palestine” while in Israeli detention, which was posted by Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, was one of the images that caused outrage this week.

Fra Hughes, from Belfast, is a longtime campaigner for Palestinian freedom and the Belfast director of the Palestine Aid charity. 

Louise McCormack, from Moate in Co Westmeath, is a PhD student of ethical AI design at the University of Galway. She has also served as chairperson of Limerick LGBTQ Pride.

She has said she will not accept her PhD from Galway University “so long as they continue ties with Israel”, referring to the college’s membership in a research programme that involves the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel.

Tara Sheehy, is a musician and linguist from Nenagh in Co Tipperary. She also took part in the 2025 flotilla, during which her boat was attacked with an incendiary device dropped from a drone. 

Joshua St Leger from Crosshaven in Co Cork recently completed a degree in sustainable energy engineering at Munster Technological University.

His mother told RTÉ Radio’s Liveline programme that he told her “he couldn’t sleep at night thinking about the kids that were vulnerable over in Palestine”. 

Adam Fitzhenry Collier is a professional diver. His brother Tom told RTÉ Radio’s Drivetime programme that he had made “a decision to act” because the Irish government had not. 

Finally, Marius Stanley works for the advertising website Deal.ie and is based in Co Dublin. 

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