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A STATEMENT IN the Seanad celebrating Muslim women in Ireland has been used to claim that Ireland is creating a National Hijab Day.
This is not true. A Senator did mention International Hijab Day, a pre-existing and unofficial annual event promoting acceptance of hijab-wearing women, but did not suggest it should be an official Irish observance.
The term Hijab usually refers to a garment used by Muslim women to cover their heads.
“BREAKING: Ireland is set to make February 2 every year ‘National Hijab Day’ to celebrate Muslim women,” a 3 February post on Facebook reads. “No, I am not joking.”
The post includes a video of Senator Eileen Flynn addressing the Seanad.
“There’s one other thing I’d like to say before I sit,” Flynn said in the video. “Yesterday was International Hijab Day, and I’d like to celebrate my Muslim sisters all over the world.”
International Hijab Day, also known as World Hijab Day, was created in 2013 by a Bangladeshi-New Yorker who wanted to “counteract some of the controversies surrounding why Muslim women choose to wear the hijab”.
It is also observed on 1 February.
Flynn also says in the video that the day should be celebrated within “Irish society”, presumably in much the same way that International Woman’s Day is.
She does not indicate that Hijab Day should be made an official observance — 1 February is already recognised as marking Imbolc, or Brigid’s Day, which Flynn also acknowledged in the video.
However, the video of her that was shared on Facebook this month was not recent, as the “BREAKING” tag on the post implies.
Transcripts of Seanad Éireann debates show that the footage was actually taken on 2 February, 2022.
Flynn’s speech began with a discussion on the death of Ronnie Faye, an advocate from the Travelling community, and the release of a report by Amnesty International analysing what it called “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.”
Both of these events — Faye’s death and the publication of the Amnesty report — also took place in 2022.
“The video being shared misrepresents the intent and content of my speech,” Senator Flynn said to The Journal in response to inquiries on the claim.
“I would urge everyone to engage responsibly with verified information and avoid amplifying content that distorts the truth or incites division. The rise in hateful rhetoric stemming from this misrepresentation is deeply concerning, not just for me but for anyone who values respectful public debate.”
The Journal’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here.
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