Mother of jailed pro-Palestinian activist says she is proud of her son for taking action Wed, 09 Sep, 2026 – 14:09Gráinne Ní Aodha
The mother of a Dubliner who has spent a year in pre-trial detention in Germany said she was proud of her son as she attended a protest at Leinster House.
Protesters urged the Government to send an observer to court proceedings in Germany after concerns were raised about the trial process.
Daniel Tatlow-Devally, 32, is one of the Ulm 5 group; five Berlin-based activists who have been held in pre-trial detention since last year.
German prosecutors say Mr Tatlow-Devally was part of a group who trespassed on to a site owned by Israel’s Elbit Systems last September in the southern city of Ulm, shouting pro-Palestinian slogans as equipment was destroyed.
They are accused of causing about €1m in damage.
Concerns have been raised about the length of time Mr Tatlow-Devally has been detained before the trial has begun and the lack of transcripts of court proceedings, including by a cross-party delegation of Irish parliamentarians.
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“We’re here to mark a year in pretrial detention for Daniel and the Ulm 5,” his mother Mimi Tatlow-Golden told the Irish Examiner.
“Daniel has been held in 23-hour lock-up for a year now, we think it’s completely disproportionate. But in addition to the conditions of detention, we’re very, very concerned about the trial itself.
The reason we’ve gathered here today, not just to mark the anniversary but also to ask the Government to send an observer to this unfair trial of people who are standing up for Palestine, because a citizen of theirs is being mistreated.
“We’re not asking them to intervene, just to observe.”
She said her son was doing well, which she said was “astonishing” given the circumstances.
“I’m really struck by Daniel’s resolve and the resolve of all five of them.”
She said she was proud of her son for taking action against the “genocide” of the Palestinian people, and the group’s alleged actions did not give German authorities “carte blanche” to treat them as they were being treated.
She thanked Irish officials for consular assistance while her son was being detained, which includes visits to her son every few weeks.
“It is absolutely brutal and of course I wake up every day worried. We’re not even halfway through the trial and for some reason, they’ve decided to extend the trial to eight and a half months.”
During a visit to Dublin in July, when asked about the case, German chancellor Friedrich Merz said regardless of nationality, “judicial processes in Germany are conducted according to internationally valid standards”.
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