Catherine Connolly, the Irish socialist lawmaker poised to become the country’s next president, is facing renewed scrutiny over her past visit to war-torn Syria - even as her outspoken support for Palestine continues to win her public praise at home.
Connolly, a 68-year-old independent TD from Galway, holds a commanding lead ahead of Friday’s presidential election, with the latest poll placing her on 55.7 percent against Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys on 31.6 percent.
Long known for her anti-war and anti-establishment positions, Connolly has condemned Israel’s war in Gaza as "genocide enabled and resourced by American money".
Her criticism of NATO and EU rearmament plans has also resonated in a country that prizes neutrality and sympathises deeply with the Palestinian cause.
Yet, amid her ascent, Connolly’s 2018 trip to areas of Syria then under the control of Bashar al-Assad has resurfaced as a point of controversy.
A 'fact-finding mission' under Assad
As RTÉ reported, Connolly joined fellow TDs Clare Daly, Mick Wallace and Maureen O’Sullivan on a week-long visit to Damascus, the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, and Aleppo in June 2018, when Assad’s forces - backed by Russia and Iran - controlled Syria’s main urban centres.
The visit was arranged by Dublin activist Rita Fagan and approved by the Assad government.
Connolly has consistently described the trip as a "fact-finding mission". She told RTÉ’s News at One in October 2025 that she travelled to "see for myself the horror of war", adding: "I have never, ever hesitated in my utter condemnation of Assad, publicly and privately."
However, controversy has surrounded the funding of the trip. Connolly initially said she had "paid for that trip" herself, before later confirming it had been covered through her taxpayer-funded Parliamentary Activities Allowance, a research fund for Independent TDs.
Her 2018 filings to the Standards in Public Office Commission list €3,691.72 under "Syria" as part of a €35,000 research expenditure.
Asked about this discrepancy, Connolly told Virgin Media television that "the taxpayer funds my salary … and this particular allowance allows for research and policy".
Critics, including government ministers Micheál Martin and Simon Harris, accused her of using public money for a politically sensitive mission during an active war, with the implication that Connolly was trying to boost support for Assad
Meeting militia leaders
Photographs published by the Irish-Syria Solidarity Movement (ISSM) show Connolly and her delegation with Saed Abd al-Aal, head of the pro-Assad Free Palestine Movement, during a tour of Yarmouk.
Abd al-Aal’s faction was implicated by human-rights monitors in atrocities and starvation siege tactics against Palestinian refugees who had sided with anti-Assad rebels.
In an open letter, the ISSM said Connolly’s presence "legitimised and endorsed" individuals responsible for war crimes.
Connolly told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on 17 October: "I didn’t know that, and you have no control when you go to a country like that as to who will come into your presence or not. That’s no endorsement of the regime. I’m on record for condemning the regime."
The delegation also met Fares al-Shehabi, head of Aleppo’s Chamber of Industry, who has been under EU sanctions since 2011 for providing "economic support to the [Assad] regime".
Al-Shehabi drew global outrage after a 2017 tweet in which he called for the death of a seven-year-old girl, Bana al-Abed, known for documenting the siege of Aleppo.
Connolly later told RTÉ: "Certainly in retrospect, when one looks back and sees the comments that he made … this man is utterly unacceptable to me."
Activist criticism grows
Irish-Syrian activists have been vocal in their condemnation. The ISSM urged the Labour Party not to back Connolly’s presidential bid, saying her 2018 visit "provided legitimacy to the Assad regime and its narrative".
On social media, the group @Syria_Irl wrote: "Facts are not smears - Catherine Connolly consistently failed to admit the truth about her trip to Syria & her interventions for Assad regime."
Others have questioned whether Connolly’s delegation sought out dissenting voices or merely met figures hand-picked by the Assad regime for propaganda purposes.