On Wednesday, June 4, the board of Trinity College Dublin voted to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, organisations and companies. The vote took place at the same time as a protest outside Trinity Business School calling for a complete divestment from Israel.

Following the vote, Trinity College will end all investments, commercial relationships, academic and research collaborations. Ongoing research contracts will be honoured, as Trinity College stated that there is “no evidence to associate any of these with breaches of international humanitarian law or human rights violations”.

Moreover, the university will not enter into any new European research consortia that involve Israel, while also actively lobbying the EU Commission to exclude Israel from such collaborations. Trinity College will also no longer facilitate Erasmus+ exchange agreements with Israeli universities.

The university’s board voted this morning on the recommendations of the Israeli Divestment Taskforce. The taskforce was established last year as part of an agreement to end a five-day encampment on campus organised by students calling on the university to divest from Israel amid its ongoing war on Gaza.

🇵🇸TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN JUST AGREED TO FULL DIVESTMENT FROM ISRAEL AND THE CUTTING OF ALL ACADEMIC TIES🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/1sRzEx5jbE

— Jenny 🇵🇸 (@jennymaguir) June 4, 2025

Students also took part in a protest organised by the students’ union and the Trinity College Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (TCD BDS), which took place in the hours before and during this morning’s vote. Gathering outside the Trinity Business School, demonstrators demanded that the board agree to the recommendations and completely cut ties with Israeli universities and companies.

TCD Students’ Union President Jenny Maguire, who took part in the protest, took to Instagram to comment on the vote. “Welcome to free Trinity,” she wrote. “Investments, suppliers, commercial relationships, academic ties and research collaborations with Israel – all stopped.”

“We won, but our fight continues,” she added. “This historic win must be a catalyst for change across this island. We must enact the Occupied Territories Bill. We must stop the selling of Israeli bonds. We must keep the pressure on until Palestine is free.

“Thank you to everyone who has raised a sign, threw down a tent and demanded a better world.”

Speaking to Trinity News, TCD BDS Chair Harry Johnston welcomed the victory, saying that “this is a massive step forward in ending TCD complicity in the ongoing occupation, apartheid, and genocide.”

“This victory shows us that people-powered movements achieve real results and change. Trinity has reversed a wrong, now we will ensure Trinity takes action in creating a positive impact beyond its legal obligations.”

In the 20 months since Israel launched its escalated military offensive in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, over 56,000 people have been killed in Gaza.