Emigration becomes Immigration

PB May-June  May-June  11

ith the new year came an

onslaught of continuing anti-

immigration protests around the

country, often taking place at

refugee reception centres in

working class and rural areas. The vast Le Chéile

march in Dublin on 18 February shows that most

Irish people abhor racism but there is a lot to play

for still. A Sunday Independent poll in February

showed 56% think the country has taken in too

many refugees over the last year.

A recent article in the Irish Times was headlined

‘Ireland’s ﬂirtation with liberalism may be coming

to an end’ and a few weeks ago a Guardian piece

opened: “After years of bucking the European

trend an anti-immigration backlash has ﬁnally hit

Ireland”.

The protests over the past few months at East

Wall over an asylum seeker accommodation

centre have caused huge disruption in Dublin,

with hundreds of protesters blocking the Port

Tunnel on multiple occasions and promising to

continue to do so until their demands are met. As

recently as 3 April there were continuing reports

of ﬁghting.

A violent incident where immigrants were

allegedly beaten up in Ashtown in Dublin by locals

with dogs, sticks and baseball bats sparked a

wave of denialism and antagonism to Irish Times

journalist, Kitty Holland, who stood by her story.

Consistent protests against the arrival of refugees

have taken place at an accommodation centre in

Ballymun, with videos circulating widely on social

media of crowds chanting “get them out”.

Hundreds attended a protest in Dublin’s city

centre in January, when feelings appeared

to peak, with the anti-immigration

protesters appearing to outnumber a pro-

refugee counter-rally, a contingent of

Garda present to separate the two sides.

Trac was disrupted outside State

broadcaster, RTÉ.

The unrest has not been conﬁned to Dublin,

with similar demonstrations blocking trac in

Fermoy, Co Cork and showing no signs of abating.

The British far-right agitator, convicted criminal

and self-described ‘journalist’, Tommy Robinson,

clearly felt there was a niche for him in this country

though recent reports are scarce.

The people of East Wall, Ballymun, Fermoy and

all over the country have a legitimate right to

protest against successive government policy

failures that have led to a record 11,000 people in

emergency accommodation, and an on-going and

worsening health care crisis, with record numbers

of patients on trolleys in need of a hospital bed.

Worrying reports emerged, however, of the

apparent co-option of the asylum-seeker protests

by far-right proponents of racist conspiracy

theories, with the Social Democrats TD for Dublin

Central Gary Gannon describing one protest as “a

far-right rally” and the Lord Mayor of Dublin

Caroline Conroy expressing concern about the

orchestration of the various demonstrations by

the far-right.

Speaking at an Oireachtas Justice Committee

meeting, Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin stated that

he does not recognise Dublin any more and that

“We are now in a massively dangerous moment

where... we are at a crossroads. You have children

at these protests.” He ﬂagged the circulation of a

(fabricated) ocial-looking leaﬂet with a Rialtas

Dublin Central Gary Gannon described

one protest as “a far-right rally” and Lord

Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy expressing

concern about the orchestration of

demonstrations by the far-right

NEWS

Far-right co-option of asylum-seeker

protests highlights growing anti-

minority sentiment in our society

By Seána Glennon

na hÉireann name and logo warning households

to keep girls indoors after 6 o’clock due to the

dangers posed by immigrant men. He suggested

a campaign akin to some of the Covid information

campaigns to counter misinformation in this

context.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris, addressing

the same committee, called out those on the

streets shouting “get them out” as an intimidating

mob rather than protesters. He went on to note

that he was “acutely attuned to some of the

individuals behind these protests and some

people who move from town to town and county

to county trying to stoke up division”.

However, the government recently stated it

would accelerate decisions on international

protection applicants, aording the International

Protection Oce more sta and aiming for

decisions on applications made by people from

safe countries of origin to be made within three

months, rather than 17 to 24 months, as currently.

The government was warned about its use of

language in this context by the Irish Refugee

Council (IRC), following the Taoiseach’s February

proposal of a “hard” policy on immigration. The

IRC’s chief executive ﬂagged the use of such terms

as “false story” and “illegally coming to our

country”, noting that people may be forced to

travel “in illegal or irregular ways, including using

a smuggler who may take a passport back o the

person when travelling”. Leo Varadkar clariﬁed

that his reference to a “hard” policy related to

human trackers rather than migrants, but

acknowledged the importance of being “careful”

with language in this respect.

The ongoing controversies, temporarily

sidelined by the public outcry against the end of

the evictions embargo, coincide with a broader

then gin...

EMIGRATIONN

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IMMIGRATIONN

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becomes

12 May-June  May-June  PB

The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence

or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 is

currently before the Dáil aimed at combatting

hate crime and hate speech but legislation

alone is not enough to achieve cultural change

trend of rising far-right sentiment in Irish society,

characterised by a hostility toward racial, ethnic

and other minorities and a sense of nativism. The

pandemic provided fertile ground for the spread

of dangerous conspiracy theories, such as the

white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy

– the false claim that white populations are being

“replaced” and rendered “extinct” by non-white

immigrants. The Irish Freedom Party has recently

put an Irish twist on this conspiracy theory,

equating the acceptance of those seeking asylum

as the “new plantation of Ireland”. Infamous anti-

immigration activist Derek Blighe recently

registered a political party tellingly called Ireland

First. The rise of the far-right was reﬂected

throughout the period of lockdown in the large

scale organised anti-mask protests in Dublin,

some of which descended into violent clashes

between protesters and Garda.

The available data paint a worrying picture for

minorities in Ireland. In 2021, the Garda reported

that incidences of hate crimes had increased by

an extraordinary 84% in the previous 12 months.

In addition to the increased reports of hate-

motivated crimes based on race and ethnicity,

there appears to be an increasing hostility

towards the LGBT+ community since the landmark

same sex marriage referendum in 2015.

The deteriorating situation has been ﬂagged by

Paula Fagan, the chief executive of LGBT Ireland,

who has noted the huge under-reporting of

violence and harassment. The murder of two men

in Sligo, who had been targeted through an online

dating app, and a spate of vicious homophobic

attacks in the past year have caused widespread

shock across the country. Data from LGBT Ireland’s

helpline indicates a rise in both homophobic

violence and general harassment.

The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism

has noted a trend of disparate and previously

fringe anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT and anti-

lockdown groups connecting with one another

and amplifying each other’s rhetoric, in Ireland

and many other countries. There is no doubt that

Ireland is not alone in experiencing an uptick in

anti-minority sentiment and indications of the

organisation and coalescing of far-right groups.

Events in the past few years such as Brexit, the

election of Donald Trump, the January 6 Capitol

riots in the US, Trump’s recent indictments, and

the January 8 storming of government buildings

in Brazil by far-right extremists following the

country’s recent election have served to embolden

those pushing this agenda. Elon Musk’s drive to

dismantle content moderation on Twitter is

another step towards normalising the public

expression of extremist views. Musk, a self-

proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, reinstated a

host of Twitter accounts that had previously been

banned for spreading misinformation and

harassment, prompting the EU to threaten to ban

the app in Europe if its standards on policing

content are not brought up to scratch.

Unlike many countries across Europe, Ireland

does not have a well-established far-right political

party, and the more socially conservative stances

on rights issues such as LGBT+ rights and abortion

have generally been represented by a smaller

number of independent members of parliament.

The years since the last general election have

witnessed the seemingly inexorable rise of the

left-wing and socially liberal Sinn Féin party.

The question arises, however, as to whether the

recent visible rise in intolerance towards minority

groups is evidence of demand for a far-right

populist representation in parliament. If this is the

case, we will need to come to terms with what this

could mean in the future for hard-won progressive

gains that have been achieved in recent years.

At a time when the world watches women and

men of all ages putting their lives on the line in

Iran to protest for the most basic freedoms, we

should never take for granted the constitutionally

protected right of free assembly. It is becoming

clear, however, that the apparently isolated

incidents of intolerance towards minority groups

in the past few years are not so isolated anymore

and may be reﬂective of a trend of organised far-

right action.

New legislation – the Criminal Justice

(Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate

Oences) Bill 2022 – is currently before the Dáil

aimed at combatting hate crime and hate speech.

While this is a positive step, legislation alone is

not enough to achieve cultural change. We need

to take a closer look at why this is happening, and

what we can do about it, beginning with listening

to the warnings of those most at risk from a far-

right turn.

Seána Glennon is a lawyer and PhD candidate at

the Sutherland School of Law, UCD. She is currently

a visiting scholar at Osgoode Hall Law School, York

University, Toronto, Canada.

n Dublin Region (226)

n Eastern Region (69)

n North Western Region (70)

n Southern Region (83)

REGIONAL INCIDENTS

BREAKDOWN

n Race (212)

n Sexual orientation (73)

n Nationality(67)

n Religion (34)

n Ethnicity (31)

n Colour (30)

n Gender (17)

n Disability & Age (19)

DISCRIMINATORY MOTIVES *

*An incident may have more than one motive

HATE CRIME AND HATE RELATED INCIDENTS

n Hate Crime n Hate related (Non-Crime)

150

120

Q1 2021 Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021

120

100

112

20 17 18

TOP CRIME INCIDENT TYPES (COUNT>10)

Public Order

Offences

Assault

Minor

Criminal

Damage

(Not by ﬁre)

Assault

Causing

Harm

Menacing

Phone

Calls

Murder

Threats

Prohibition

Incitement

Sec.2

135

17 17

Information on hate crimes in Ireland from Garda PULSE system, correct as of July 2022