DUBLIN: Irish Muslims performed prayers to mark the festival of Eid Al-Adha on Friday in Dublin’s Croke Park Gaelic sports stadium, a site of historic importance for Irish nationalists who always had a deep connection with the once dominant Catholic Church.
Around 200 Muslims laid out prayer mats on the pitch usually used for the national sports of Gaelic football and hurling and where in 1920 British troops opened fire on a crowd, killing 14 people during Ireland’s War of Independence.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins described it as an important moment in Ireland’s narrative. Leaders of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths attended and spoke at the event, which was broadcast live on television for the first time.
With Muslims unable to hold large gatherings in mosques due to Covid-19 social distancing rules, Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri, chair of Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council, approached the management of Croke Park, who he said did not hesitate to offer the venue.
He got the idea after an Ikea store in Germany allowed Muslims to use one of its car parks for Ramadan prayers.
“Today this Eid prayer is sending a very strong message out to the whole world, that Ireland is indeed a country of céad míle fáilte,” he told the gathering, using the Irish language greeting translated as ‘100,000 welcomes’.
“No matter how different you are, once you come and you live here and become part of the society, this island of Ireland has this great, unique ability to adopt you.”
A series of sexual abuse scandals shattered the credibility of the Catholic Church which dominated Irish society for decades after its independence from Britain. Ireland has since experienced sweeping social change, including the introduction of abortion and gay marriage in recent years.
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, told celebrants that there was something special about recognizing publicly the Muslim community’s place “as an integral part of the family of the Irish” in Croke Park.
Irish Muslims perform Eid prayers on symbolic Croke Park pitch
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Irish Muslims perform Eid prayers on symbolic Croke Park pitch
- Around 200 Muslims laid out prayer mats on the pitch usually used for the national sports of Gaelic football and hurling
- Leaders of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths attended and spoke at the event, which was broadcast live on television for the first time
Poland intercepts Russian plane over Baltic Sea
- Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions
- Fighter jets escorted from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace
WARSAW: Polish jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, which was flying close to its airspace, the NATO member country’s army said on Thursday.
Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions since September when three Russian military jets violated Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes just days after more than 20 Russian drones had entered Polish airspace.
“This morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace,” the army said.
It also said that at night, objects were observed entering Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus.
“After detailed analysis, it was determined that these were most likely smuggling balloons, moving in accordance with the wind direction and speed,” the army said. It added that part of the airspace over northeast Poland’s Podlaskie region, which borders Belarus, was temporarily closed to civilian traffic to ensure security.
