Fair play to Bandon musician and activist Martin Leahy who has taken a clear stand against Ireland playing Israel.

This week his song, Don’t Play reached number three in the official Irish Homegrown Chart.

Sung to the tune of Put ’Em under Pressure (better known to most as Olé Olé Olé Olé), the track calls for the players to boycott the upcoming match on October 4.

The strong sentiment in support of a boycott goes back many months.

In May, fans disrupted the Ireland against Qatar friendly and threw tennis balls wrapped in Stop the Game stickers onto the pitch.

The general consensus was and is that this match is much more than a political football.

There’s agreement up and down the country that it shouldn’t be happening, not at all.

Martin Leahy’s song has been played at rallies in cities, towns and villages and there’s pride for it across the Rebel County.

Don’t Play has been performed at marches from Cork city and Bandon to Skibbereen.

Had it been released sooner, it would have been a fitting entry for the Eurovision song contest, also boycotted over Israel.

Just how deep this issue runs is evident once again at RTÉ.

Staff have said that, if the UEFA Nations League matches go ahead, any broadcast is likely to have no commentary, no panel or studio analysis.

Workers in sectors like aviation, transport and hospitality have also signalled they will play no part in the hosting of the upcoming matches. 

And politicians on the left have united to demand a soccer boycott: the Social Democrats, Labour, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin and the Green Party wrote a joint letter to Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste.

The cross-party campaign is calling on the government to insist the Football Association of Ireland withdraws from the matches.

Off-pitch, outside locker rooms we’ve seen captains and high-profile players make their position clear, among them Bohemians’ Dawson Devoy, Joe Redmond of St Patrick’s Athletic and Pádraig Amond (Waterford). 

The Irish soccer squad’s defender Seamus Coleman has commented on Gaza, saying “it is awful what is happening, it is extremely sad and a very difficult position for the players to be in”. The squad’s assistant manager John O’Shea has echoed that sentiment.

Meanwhile in the world of music, Macklemore’s call for a free Palestine has cost him a place on Ed Sheeran’s tour, prompting Irish artists and audiences to ask where solidarity ends and complicity begins. Sheeran says he is “not complicit”.

But the move has drawn fierce criticism online, including claims that Ed Sheeran cannot claim Irish roots while distancing himself from the nation’s historic support for the oppressed.

Let’s not forget the word boycott originated here. So it’s only right the soccer protest becomes a successful game of two halves.

Rich tapestry of culture

Culture Night is once again upon us and it is indeed a night for all. It offers the chance for us to get out on Friday and catch some live performances or visit an art gallery.

With a rich tapestry of arts and culture on our doorstep, we are spoiled with events taking place across West Cork.

Friday September 18 will be a particularly special night for the team at Creative Bandon, who will open their new permanent home on South Main Street.

They have a packed agenda of events for the day that’s in it, and must be bursting with pride to finallly have a place they can now call home to promote the arts and much more in Bandon.

There are plenty of events in Skibbereen too including exhibitions at the Uilinn West Cork Arts Centre, while the splendid Ár n-Áit on Levis Quay promises a wide range of live bands and DJs.

And if you can’t make it, you can just listen to all the proceedings live on éist, a cork online radio station.

So wherever you are in West Cork, it’s worth making the effort to get out and soak it all up.

If you’re feeling brave you can  even visit the Freemason’s Hall in Kinsale for a chance to see what’s it all about.

The world is your oyster, and West Cork is your best bet, this Friday night.