Python Ireland

Between June and August 2026, Python Ireland and individuals associated with the organisation became the subject of a campaign involving allegations of misconduct, threatened protests and demands that the chairperson of Python Ireland be removed from the organisation.

On 8 July, a scheduled Python Ireland community meetup was cancelled at twenty-four hours’ notice, affecting its speakers, organisers and more than 200 registered attendees. The incident also disrupted preparations for PyCon Ireland 2026, including the loss of the planned conference venue.

The July meetup was an ordinary technical event for learning, professional exchange and collaboration among Python developers. It had no connection to the political issues raised by the campaign.

Python Ireland has not previously issued a public statement on this incident or provided any official statement to any media organisation  This statement sets out Python Ireland’s position.

Articles, posts and public comments concerning the incident have appeared from differing political perspectives. None should be understood as representing Python Ireland unless explicitly issued or authorised by the organisation.

Python is an open-source programming language developed and used by a large international community of individuals, companies, universities and public bodies. Around it is a global ecosystem of local user groups, conferences and volunteer communities focused on learning, technical collaboration and sharing knowledge.

Python Ireland is part of that tradition. We are a non-profit, volunteer-led organisation run by members of Ireland’s technology community. Volunteers give their time to organise regular meetups, PyCon Ireland and other activities that allow people to learn, share knowledge and participate in the Irish Python community.

Our community includes people from many nationalities and backgrounds, reflecting the international character of Ireland’s technology sector. We welcome students, beginners and experienced professionals alike.

That is the organisation we are seeking to protect: an open, welcoming technical community built largely through voluntary effort. Python Ireland is not an extension of any other voluntary body, commercial enterprise, government, political movement or military organisation. It exists to support people who use and contribute to Python in Ireland.

Python Ireland has reviewed the allegations and the material presented in support of them

We reviewed the concerns raised and found no evidence that the chairperson had misused his role, used Python Ireland's platforms for political advocacy, discriminated against participants, or breached our policies or code of conduct. 

Over two months up until now, no evidence of such conduct was supplied to Python Ireland, and our own review discovered none.

In our assessment, the campaign was based substantially on the chairperson’s Israeli nationality and background, his previous mandatory military service and a presumed political identity, rather than on actual misconduct within Python Ireland.

We therefore regard the attempt to have him removed from the Irish Python community as discriminatory in character, contrary to both Python community values and to the Irish laws governing voluntary bodies. Serious allegations were made without supporting evidence, while threatened disruption was used to pressure Python Ireland into acting against him. We do not regard that as a good-faith community complaint.

Python Ireland’s values and those of the broader Python community will not support anonymous political pressure, unsupported accusations or threats of disruption to determine who may participate in our community.

Complaints concerning misconduct within Python Ireland will be taken seriously and assessed under our Code of Conduct. Where credible evidence of harassment, discrimination, intimidation, threats or other misconduct is presented, we will act. Anonymous complaints may sometimes be appropriate, but anonymity cannot substitute for evidence.

Where evidence is not presented of discrimination, harassment or other misconduct, we will not punish or exclude an individual in order to appease a political campaign.

This principle applies regardless of gender, nationality, religion or national background.

Python Ireland is not a platform for campaigning on geopolitical, religious or party-political disputes. Members of our community inevitably hold different views on events around the world, and many have personal or family connections to countries involved in serious conflicts.

Those differences are not grounds for exclusion from a technical community. What matters to Python Ireland is how people conduct themselves within our community and whether they show respect to the dignity and equal participation of others.

Lawful political opinions expressed outside Python Ireland are not, by themselves, grounds for exclusion. Harassment, discrimination, intimidation or deliberate disruption affecting our community may be grounds for action, regardless of the political justification offered for them.

Python Ireland has worked for many years with technology companies, educational institutions, venues, speakers and sponsors. Together, we have created opportunities for thousands of people to learn, meet colleagues, share technical knowledge and contribute to Ireland’s technology community.

Ireland has a strong, open and internationally connected technology sector. That strength depends in part on people and organisations being able to work together across differences of nationality, background and political opinion, without unrelated political disputes determining who may participate.

We intend to continue organising events on that basis, and we are confident that our partners across the technology and education communities will continue to work with us in the same spirit.

Concerns should be considered responsibly and on their merits. But unsupported allegations or threatened protest should not, by themselves, prevent ordinary professional and community activity from taking place. Otherwise, a very small number of people can acquire an effective veto over events involving hundreds of others.

Our response, discussed and agreed with our community members in response to the recent attacks, is to keep doing the work: holding events, supporting developers, sharing knowledge and building partnerships across the Irish technology community. We invite our existing and future partners to continue doing that with us.