Sally Rooney is withdrawing her books from sale in the UK because of her support for the banned organisation Palestine Action. The Irish novelist, whose books include Normal People and Conversations With Friends, said her public support for the direct action group meant she could no longer receive royalties from UK sales.
Ban and legal consequences
After Palestine Action was banned last year, Rooney said she would use proceeds from her sales to support the group. Supporting organisations banned under the Terrorism Act is an offence, and she subsequently cancelled a trip to the UK to pick up an award for fear of arrest.
In a statement provided to the Guardian, the bestselling author said: "In July 2025, the direct-action protest group Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK. The following month, I wrote an opinion piece expressing my intention to go on supporting Palestine Action, which is not a proscribed or otherwise prohibited group here in the Republic of Ireland.
"As a result, the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence. After a process of consultation and deliberation, and with my full agreement, my publisher Faber has therefore determined that it can no longer supply my work within the UK. I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences."
Impact on her work
In a high court statement in support of the legal challenge to proscription, warning against its impact on freedom of expression, Rooney said her books could disappear from UK stores and the publication of new works in the UK could be prevented.
Her books have been critically acclaimed and hugely commercially successful in the UK. Normal People has sold more than 1m copies, while Conversations With Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You have each sold more than 500,000. Normal People and Conversations With Friends were also adapted by the BBC, with the former racking up 62.7m views and becoming the broadcaster's most-streamed series of 2020.
Rooney said last year that she had been advised by the independent producer of the TV dramatisations that any payment to her for those series, both broadcast before the ban, would be a breach of terrorism laws if it knew or suspected that she was using the royalties to fund Palestine Action.
Legal framework and publisher's response
Section 15 of the Terrorism Act makes it an offence if a person "provides money or other property, and knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism". It carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Her UK and Ireland publisher, Faber, said: "Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally Rooney for her work. To sell a writer's work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher.
"As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format. We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories."
More than 3,700 people are believed to have been arrested in the UK for alleged support of Palestine Action since it was banned in July last year, most for holding placards saying: "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 is continuing and will be heard by the supreme court next month. Most arrests and charges have related to section 13 of the Terrorism Act, which carries a maximum jail term of six months.
