No surprise to me as there has always been a big pro Palestinian sentiment in Ireland. Pretty disgusting. We had an Irish priest one time and he was going on and on about awful Israel, the Jews and their treatment of Palestinians. My father, God rest his soul, told Father R in no uncertain terms that he was an Anti-Semite and needed to confess it! Father R shut up and never brought up the subject around us ever again.
I lived in the Dublin suburbs in the late 70s to early 80s and never heard the anti-Israel pro-“Palestinian” noise. My late father was open about being Jewish (my mother is Catholic and I was raised Catholic myself), and if it was ever prevalent back then, I would have undoubtedly heard it.
Some of the most opinionated, intolerant and biased creatures on earth are Irish priests. God bless your father for standing up to that priest.