Dublin hotel canceled 70-room booking for antisemitism conference, asked if event linked to IDF, Jewish leader charges

A Dublin hotel canceled a reservation for 70 rooms for delegates attending an international conference on combating antisemitism after learning the purpose of their visit, according to a senior representative of Ireland’s Jewish community.

Maurice Cohen, chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, disclosed the incident at a reception at the Irish Foreign Ministry last night marking the opening of the conference.

In an address shared with The Times of Israel, Cohen said the Herbert Park Hotel, in Dublin’s Ballsbridge neighborhood, initially accepted the booking for delegates representing the European Union’s 27 member states but later withdrew it.

Hotel management asked whether the conference was connected to the Israel Defense Forces, despite the gathering being a civilian and diplomatic event, he said.

“How quickly does the word ‘Jewish’ change a conversation? How easily does a gathering about antisemitism become associated with the Israeli army?” Cohen said. “This was the hotel that… had always represented warmth and welcome, and now a group of people traveling to Dublin for a conference on antisemitism had been told that they could not stay there.”

Delegates were eventually put up in a different hotel in Dublin as they attended a meeting of the Special Envoys and Coordinators Combating Antisemitism (SECCA).

The conference took place during Ireland’s presidency of the European Union and was intended to underscore the country’s commitment to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

The incident comes amid growing concerns among Irish Jewish leaders over antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment in the country. Ireland’s community of approximately 2,200 Jews recorded 143 antisemitic incidents between July 2025 and January 2026, according to Cohen.

The Herbert Park Hotel says it will not comment.