Normal People author says she cannot enter UK in case of arrest

Author Sally Rooney said she did not travel to the UK to collect a book prize this week as she was concerned she may be arrested over her support of British group Palestine Action.

The Irish novelist has been donating money to the group, which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government in July, after activists broke into an RAF base and damaged two military aircraft earlier this year.

Palestine Action has been targeting arms companies since war broke out in Gaza in 2023.

Rooney, 34, who won a Sky Arts award for novel Intermezzo, said in a statement read out for her at the ceremony: “I’m advised that I can no longer safely enter the UK without potentially facing arrest”.

The statement, read by Rooney’s publisher Alex Bowler, also said: “I wish that I could be with you this evening to accept the honour in person,” adding that she was showing “support for non-violent anti-war protest”.

“In that context, I want to thank you all the more warmly for honouring my work tonight, and to reiterate my belief in the dignity and beauty of all human life, and my solidarity with the people of Palestine,” it also said.

Rooney said in August she was using the proceeds from her four books and income from the BBC TV adaptations of Normal People and Conversations with Friends to support Palestine Action.

She is not currently working with the BBC on any upcoming projects and has never been a member of staff.

Last week, 890 people were arrested at a demonstration against the ban on Palestine Action in London on Saturday according to the Metropolitan Police.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said last week: Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing.”

She also said she “backed officers” who had arrested those supporting the group.