In the wake of the EU Parliament vote to toughen the pan-European response to the Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, an Offaly TD has reiterated her concerns that the organisation is free to recruit and raise funds here.
Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan said that the answer provided by Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, to her Parliamentary Question on the status of the Muslim Brotherhood in the State showed that the Irish state has no plans to proscribe the group.
Only half of Ireland’s fourteen MEPs voted in favour of the EU parliamentary motion this week which called for greater EU-wide scrutiny of Islamist political networks, with some allies of those opposed in Brussels linking the move to a campaign of Islamophobia.
Two Independent MEPs – Michael McNamara for Ireland South and Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan for the Midlands–North-West constituency – voted against the motion on the Muslim Brotherhood, as did both Sinn Féin MEPs, Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion, and Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.
The 8 October resolution titled “The need for an EU strategy to counter Islamist entryism and the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood network,” by 381 votes to 167, amid claims that the Islamist network had benefited from EU funding through the NGO sector.
Earlier this year, Deputy Nolan said she “specifically asked whether the Muslim Brotherhood is a proscribed terrorist organisation here and whether it is free to recruit members and solicit funding on Irish soil”.
She said the Minister’s reply confirms that the organisation is not the subject of a suppression order under section 19 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939.
“This is in stark contrast to the action taken by the US Department of State in January when it designated specific chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, including Lebanese, Egyptian, and Jordanian branches, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) and foreign terrorist organisations due to their material support for Hamas and involvement in regional and international violence,” she said.
“Last January, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also withdrew scholarship funding opportunities for its citizens at all UK and Irish universities that had previously been offered. According to the UAE this step was taken in response to what it describes as a rising Muslim Brotherhood influence and promotion of political Islam in university Islamic societies,” she said.
“The ministers non-answer hides behind general references to “strong laws” and “robust Garda frameworks” without naming a single measure, investigation, or prohibition that applies specifically to the Muslim Brotherhood, which we know is a lethal organisation determined to cast the net of its poisonous ideological extremism as far as possible into the heart of Western democracies,” said Deputy Nolan.
“It also provides no indication of any willingness on the part of the Irish state to proscribe the organisation or of any plans to do so.”
“The ministers reply effectively concedes that in the absence of a suppression order, the organisation remains free to operate, recruit, and solicit funds unless and until Gardaí decide otherwise on a case-by-case basis and until it is proven that the recruiting of membership or raising of funds is for terrorism purposes. This is a dangerously and needlessly complex approach. For instance, what would happen if the Muslim Brotherhood simply turned around and said it was collecting money or members for ‘educational purposes or for ‘charity’. Would that be a sufficient defence to allow it walk away from any investigation? We need answers to these questions.”
“I asked a straight question about a specific organisation with well-documented links to extremism and terrorism. The Minister’s reply is deliberately vague and gives zero reassurance to the Irish people.”
“By refusing to state whether the Muslim Brotherhood is under active scrutiny or subject to any restrictions, the Government is allowing it to potentially recruit and raise money on Irish soil with impunity. “
“I will continue to press this issue until the Government provides the kind of clarity we need to see,” Deputy Nolan said.
The Minister told Deputy Nolan in his March 18, 2026 reply that “the organisation referred to by the Deputy is not the subject of a suppression order under section 19 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939.”
“I can assure the Deputy that the Government attaches the highest priority to countering security threats, including those related to terrorism,” he said. “There is a strong body of laws in place to counter terrorism and sustain our national security, most notably, the Offences Against the State Acts 1939 to 1998.”
“The Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Acts 2005-2015 were enacted to give force to the State’s commitment to International Conventions on the suppression of terrorist related activities.”
“Section 5 provides that any organisation engaged in terrorist activity or terrorist-linked activity is an unlawful organisation within the meaning and for the purposes of the Offences Against the State Acts 1939 to 1998 and section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1976. This is the case whether the organisation is inside or outside the State, or whether the terrorist activity occurs in or outside the State,” he said.
“Thus it is not necessary for an organisation to be subject to a suppression order in accordance with section 19 of the 1939 Act, to allow for investigations or prosecutions to be carried out, where appropriate,” the Minister said.
“An Garda Síochána continues to put in place a robust framework of measures, both operational and intelligence based, to prevent and respond to security threats including those relating to terrorism.”
“The financing or recruiting for terrorism is a particular area of operational focus for An Garda Síochána. An Garda Síochána works closely with security and intelligence counterparts in other jurisdictions in that context.”
“It is a matter for An Garda Síochána in any particular circumstance to consider whether an offence may have occurred,” he said.