by Zev Stub, October 14, 2026
Dublin’s Herbert Park Hotel nixed reservations for 70 guests after learning the conference they were holding would focus on combating anti-Semitism
The hotel canceled a reservation for 70 rooms for delegates attending an international conference on combating anti-Semitism after learning the purpose of their visit, according to a senior representative of Ireland’s Jewish community.
Chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland Maurice Cohen spoke of the incident at a reception at the Irish Foreign Ministry Tuesday night marking the opening of a meeting of the Special Envoys and Coordinators Combating Antisemitism (SECCA), a group supported by the World Jewish Congress and the European Commission.
In an address shared with Times of Israel, Cohen said the Herbert Park Hotel in Dublin’s Ballsbridge neighborhood initially accepted reservations for delegates representing the 27 EU member states, but later cancelled.
Cohen described meeting with the hotel’s general manager after the room reservations were confirmed. After he explained the gathering’s purpose, “I noticed her manner change. There was a tension that had not been there before.”
Cohen said she then asked if the IDF would be involved with the gathering, a question which took him by surprise.
“We were talking about a conference in Dublin on anti-Semitism, attended by Jewish community representatives, diplomats, civil servants and government officials,” Cohen said. “Nothing I had said had anything whatsoever to do with the Israeli army, yet somehow that was where the conversation had gone.”
After that, Cohen said, the manager said she would have to check with owners to see if the guests would be permitted to stay there. A day later, she came back with an answer: they could not.
“There is an uncomfortable irony in organizing an international conference to discuss anti-Semitism and finding that, before the conference has even begun, you have already encountered something that forces you to ask exactly the questions the conference was created to address,” Cohen said. “How quickly does the word ‘Jewish’ change a conversation? How easily does a gathering about anti-Semitism become associated with the Israeli army?”
Delegates were eventually put up in a different hotel in Dublin, and the meeting took place as planned.
The Herbert Park Hotel told Times of Israel they had no comment on the report.
“That is the danger of anti-Semitism today: not only that it excludes Jews, but that it makes their exclusion appear reasonable,” Cohen said in his speech. “It begins by treating Jewish identity as evidence of political allegiance. It turns Jewish people into representatives of a foreign state, Jewish gatherings into security concerns, and ordinary acts of welcome into decisions requiring special permission.”
The decision was surprising coming from the hotel, which is accustomed to Jewish guests, Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said.
“To the best of my knowledge, there’s never been any problem in the past, so it’s a particular shame coming from the Herbert,” Wieder said. “Sadly, these things don’t come as much of a surprise anymore.”
The event was held in Ireland as the country holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Cohen noted. Part of its purpose was to underscore the country’s commitment to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism.
The three-day gathering included a meeting with Ireland’s head of government, Micheál Martin, visits to the European offices of TikTok and Meta and other high-level discussions.
The incident comes amid growing concerns among Irish Jewish leaders over anti-Semitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment in the country. Ireland’s community of approximately 2,200 Jews recorded 143 anti-Semitic incidents between July of 2025 and January of 2026, according to Cohen.
Ireland isamong the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military campaign against terror groups in Gaza in the wake of the deadly October, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel which triggered the war. It recognized the state of Palestine in 2024, after which Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar ordered the closure of the Israeli embassy in Dublin, citing Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies” and rampant anti-Semitism.
Ireland has pushed for sanctions and boycotts of Israel. Earlier this month the Irish soccer team took a series of steps to protest having to play against Israel, including bowing their heads at the Israeli anthem and refusing to shake hands with Israeli players.
Full story here.
Photo: Courtesy news24.com.au