More than 160 Irish barristers and solicitors have called on the Government to “clearly and publicly” convey to US president Donald Trump that Ireland opposes his “illegal war policies”.

A group of Irish lawyers, including 40 senior counsel, made the call in a Statement of Objection to Trump’s war policies published on Wednesday before his visit to Ireland this weekend.

Trump, the statement said, “is executing and enabling war policies which are illegal, casing death and destruction on a massive scale.

“These illegal wars are apparently motivated by self-interest and yet they are causing severe damage to the USA and world economy and risk causing global catastrophe.”

Signed by 162 lawyers in their personal capacities, the statement asks the Irish Government to “clearly and publicly convey to President Trump Ireland’s opposition to violence and threats of violence which are in breach of international law”.

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, one of the signatories, senior counsel Michael L O’Higgins, said Trump’s policies “risk global catastrophe”.

He said: “When a business goes bust, it can file for bankruptcy. That is not available to the human race.”

Another signatory, senior counsel Elizabeth O’Connell, said the fundamental laws on the use and threats of violence are “not just about the difference between right and wrong.

“They are also about the difference between stability and escalating cycles of death and destruction.”

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Speaking for the organisers of the statement, senior counsel Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha said: “A fundamental purpose of the rule of law is to stop people who have power from abusing it.

“President Trump rejects the rule of law by abusing his power, including by using and threatening illegal violence. He also insults and threatens those who challenge him.”

The effect of this very often is to silence people and governments “and that is exactly why it is necessary to stand up and speak out”, he said.

The statement also asks the Government to take “effective action” to ensure the US does not use Irish airspace or facilities, including Shannon Airport, “to support illegal international violence”; to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its personnel against attack or sanction; and to support economic sanctions against Israel.

It asks Irish people to consider supporting peaceful demonstrations and to engage in other peaceful and lawful activities in support of these objectives.

The attack earlier this year by the US and Israel on Iran was illegal, it said, because there was “no imminent threat” to the US or Israel and no resolution was passed by the UN Security Council permitting such a war.

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The purported justifications put forward by the US, including a history of supporting third parties to carry out unlawful acts of violence, developing nuclear weapons and human rights abuses, “do not justify war under international law”.

While recognising Israel’s right to defend itself and to pursue those involved in the October 7th, 2024, attack, the statement said “disproportionate acts of war are illegal”.

Israel’s leaders have “a case to answer” in the ICC in respect of “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”, it said.

The economic sanctions ordered by Trump against the ICC and its judges because arrest warrants were issued for Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant were “an open attack on an institution which is designed to investigate and punish war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

The lawyers said their statement, despite the severity of its criticisms, is made “with respect for the President of the United States of America and for the people of the USA who elected him” and is also made in “a spirit of friendship” with the people of the US.

“Irish people have so many social, cultural, familial and economic ties with the US, our countries are friends. That does not mean that we do not speak truthfully and condemn the actions of friends when that is necessary.”