Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell books in the UK because of her support for Palestine

Irish author of Normal People says she can no longer collect royalties from UK sales and cancels trip to UK for fear of arrest Sally Rooney says she has been forced to withdraw her books from UK sales because of support for banned organization Palestine Action. The Irish novelist, whose books include Ordinary People and Conversations with Friends, said his public support for the group was directly related to this.

Sally Rooney has said she has been forced to withdraw her books from sale in the UK because of her support for the banned Palestinian Authority.

The Irish novelist, whose books include Ordinary People and Conversations with Friends, said his public support for the direct action group meant he could no longer collect royalties from UK sales.

After being banned from Palestine last year, Rooney said he would use the proceeds from his sales to support Palestine Action. It is an offense to support organizations banned under the Terrorism Act, and he subsequently canceled a trip to Britain to collect the award for fear of arrest.

In a statement provided to The Guardian, the best-selling author said: “In July 2025, the Palestinian Direct Action protest group was banned as a terrorist organization in the UK. The following month, I wrote an op-ed stating my intention to continue supporting Palestine Action, which is a banned or banned group of mine here in the Republic.

“As a result, enforcing contracts to publish my work in the UK can now be a serious criminal offence. After a process of consultation and consultation, and with my full agreement, my publisher, Faber, decided that it could no longer sell my work in the UK. "I've done my best to be honest with people about my beliefs and intentions, and I'm fully prepared to accept the consequences."

In a High Court statement backing a legal challenge to the ban, Derroni warned of its impact on free speech, saying his books could disappear from UK shops and new works prevented from being published in the UK.

His books have been critically acclaimed – he has been described as the voice of a generation – and have been very successful commercially in the UK. Normal People has sold over 1 million copies, while Conversations With Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You have each sold over 500,000 copies. Ordinary People and Conversations with Friends were also adapted by the BBC, with the former reaching 62.7 million views and becoming the broadcaster's most watched series of 2020.

Rooney said last year that the independent producer of the TV series had advised him that any payment to him for those series, both before the ban, would be a breach of terrorism laws if they knew or suspected he was using royalties to finance Palestine Action.

Section 15 of the Terrorism Act makes it an offense if a person "provides money or other property which he knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect will be or may be used for terrorist purposes". The maximum penalty is 14 years in prison.

Faber, his publisher in the UK and Ireland, said: "The current laws in the UK have led to a situation where Faber cannot transfer the UK revenues for his work to Sally Rooney. Selling the author's work and not being able to transfer the revenue to him is an unreasonable situation. A publisher

As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have decided that we can no longer offer her work in any form in the UK. "We remain the proud publisher of his remarkable collection of works, which we will continue to sell in other territories."

More than 3,700 people have been arrested in the UK for supporting Palestine Action since it was banned in July last year, most of them for holding placards reading: "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action."

About 2,500 people have been charged, although none have been tried as a legal challenge to the ban continues and will be heard by the High Court next month. Most of the arrests and charges are under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, which carries a maximum jail term of six months.