Irish actress Olwen Fouéré turned down an honorary doctorate from the University of Galway over the university's links to Israeli institutions, the Irish newspaper Connacht Tribune reported on Wednesday.
Fouéré, known for roles in The Crown, Derry Girls, and Fantastic Beasts, became the second entertainment figure from Ireland to reject the honor this week, after filmmaker Margo Harkin announced on Monday that she would not accept the honorary degree.
The two of them followed the footsteps of fellow filmmaker Lelia Doolan and the late peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy, who both returned their degrees due to the same connection between Irish and Israeli institutions.
In a statement, Fouéré said that, even though the university was "close to her heart because of its excellent work of the Irish Centre for Human Rights," its links with Israel make it impossible for her to accept the degree.
The main connection between the University of Galway and Israel is through the reportedly 3.9 million Euros ASTERISK project with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
Irish actress rejects honorary doctorate over institution's ties with Israel
Fouéré explained that she was "overjoyed" to be offered the honour but felt the university's ties to Technion were “extremely problematic.”
"Several demands from staff, researchers, students, and the community to cut ties with Technion have been met with avoidance, delay, and legal obfuscation," she said in her statements.
The Connacht Tribune report stated that she had initially considered accepting the degree but decided to decline it due to "delays in the university's fulfillment of its promise of divestment, and to sever all ties."