The Immigration Department informed CBC News that only one member of the Irish hip-hop group Kneecap has been barred from entering Canada, contradicting an earlier statement by a Liberal MP. This marks the first time Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has addressed the trio’s cases publicly since Vince Gasparro, parliamentary secretary for combatting crime, announced on social media that all Kneecap members were deemed ineligible to enter Canada.
Gasparro alleged that the band had ties to organizations on Canada’s list of banned terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas. In response to Gasparro’s video, Immigration Minister Lena Diab and other government officials initially refrained from discussing individual immigration cases due to privacy concerns.
However, IRCC provided an update after each band member signed a consent form allowing their statuses to be disclosed to CBC News. According to IRCC, the band members had obtained electronic travel authorizations (eTAs) to visit Canada, with one member, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, having his eTA revoked in August for providing incomplete and inaccurate information on his application.
Ó hAnnaidh, who performs as Mo Chara, had faced a terror-related charge in the UK for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a concert in November 2024, but the case was dismissed in September by a London court. IRCC did not specify if the missing information on Ó hAnnaidh’s application was related to the criminal charge.
The applications of the other two band members, James John O Dochartaigh and Naoise O Caireallain, are currently “under review,” with instructions given in September not to travel to Canada until further communication from IRCC. Kneecap had to cancel scheduled performances in Toronto and Vancouver in October, as well as 15 shows in the US in August.
Kneecap’s manager, Dan Lambert, stated that the band had not received any official communication regarding their immigration statuses besides Gasparro’s video. He also refuted IRCC’s claim of incomplete information in Ó hAnnaidh’s eTA application, noting that it was submitted before the legal proceedings.
