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The recent horrific events in Dublin left many in shock as a stabbing incident developed into an anti-immigration rally, which in turn developed into a riot as a tram, busses and Garda cars were set on fire.
In the early afternoon a man stabbed three children and a care assistant. He was stopped by a 43-year-old Deliveroo driver who intervened and hit him with his helmet.
Then, “after the stabbing incident, rumours spread that the alleged perpetrator was an illegal North African immigrant ‘fresh off the boat’, along with false rumours that the children had died. Agitators fostered anti-immigrant sentiment online, urging people to assemble at the crime scene and protest.”
However, it turned out that the perpetrator was originally from Algeria, who had lived in Ireland for 20 years and was naturalised as an Irish citizen in 2014. The Deliveroo cyclist is from Brazil and the school is an Irish-medium primary school, of which there are many in Ireland, and these schools attract many children of Irish and non-Irish people living in Ireland who are interested in Irish traditional culture and the Irish language.
On social media the far-right urged people to go to the scene and “make your feelings known”, using the hashtag #Irelandisfull.
O’Connell Street, Dublin (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin, 24 November 2023)
However, the rioters themselves seem to have been mainly young men from the ages of 18-25 who were not particularly ideological and in some cases had already been in trouble with the Gardai. Thus, the rioters seized the opportunity to cause trouble egged on by a small number of people who were reported to be shouting anti-immigration slogans at gardaí, some holding Irish flags and signs reading “Irish lives matter”.
Since then two of the victims have been released from hospital and the Justice Minister has confirmed that 48 people have now been arrested.
O’Connell Street, Dublin (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin, 24 November 2023)
The Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said “everyone saw this coming,” as “the reality is that Dublin city centre hasn’t been safe for some time,” due to a lack of Gardai in the city centre.
The current Taoiseach of Ireland and leader of the Fine Gael party, Leo Varadkar, stated:
“I really would ask people to try and avoid connecting crime with migration. It’s not right. Yes, of course, people who are migrants might commit crimes, just as people who aren’t might commit crimes. In a country of 5.3 million people, if you have hundreds of thousands of migrants, there are going to be a few of them who commit terrible crimes. Just as there are people born and bred in Ireland who commit terrible crimes every day, including murders. When I see what happened in Parnell Square, what I see is a suspect was a migrant, although a citizen and somebody here for over 20 years.”
“I’m sorry to say there are high profile individuals in this country, and there are people in this House and Seanad, who have used language about immigration that has undoubtedly contributed to the spread of that disinformation.”
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) called on workers to gather at 1pm outside the GPO on O’Connell Street today (28/11/2023). At the rally the General Secretary Owen Reidy said:
“It’s a symbolic gesture and it’s an opportunity to do just that. We have to challenge this far-right xenophobic thinking that tries to make Ireland a place that’s unwelcome for migrants […] We want Ireland to be diverse and pluralistic and we want migrants to feel safe and welcome in our communities and our workplaces in our society […] Our bottom line is that all workers, whoever they are, have the right to go to work and come home safe.”
Phil Ní Sheaghdha, the general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association (INMO), outlined the importance of the migrant workers for healthcare delivery but stated that
“there are instances where people will take advantage and try and have a go at somebody from a different country with a different colour of skin and we reject that totally, and we want to make sure that they feel safe, which is the very least that they should feel.”
O’Connell Street, Dublin (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin, 24 November 2023)
On mainstream media Joe Brolly, a podcaster and barrister, was a witness to the aftermath and stated in an interview on Newstalk radio station that:
“‘No one hates Ireland more than the Irish far right. No one hates Ireland, and I mean no one hates Ireland more than the Irish far right. They hate bus drivers, librarians, Luas drivers, teachers, they hate teachers, women, gays trans, they loathe trans people, politicians, they can’t stand politicians. They hate working people. Muslims and jews, the Jewish replacement theory, we see them standing on O’Connell Street making these outrageous speeches, outrageous anti-Semitic speeches. The GAA, nurses, doctors, the homeless, sportspeople. You. They hate you, they hate me, and they’ll happily smash up their own city and loot shops because hate is transferable. It’s got nothing to do with politics. It’s psychologically occuring in the mind of the hater.”
As yet there is no real far right organisation in Ireland but it is hard not to speculate that there are very conservative forces in Ireland who are getting very worried about the rise in popularity of Sinn Féin and the huge support for the Palestinian cause. They need to create an indignant, pro-police, pro law and order climate that will help them sway opinion away from any ‘Leftist’ move in Irish society.
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Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin is an Irish artist, lecturer and writer. His artwork consists of paintings based on contemporary geopolitical themes as well as Irish history and cityscapes of Dublin. His blog of critical writing based on cinema, art and politics along with research on a database of Realist and Social Realist art from around the world can be viewed country by country here. Caoimhghin has just published his new book – Against Romanticism: From Enlightenment to Enfrightenment and the Culture of Slavery, which looks at philosophy, politics and the history of 10 different art forms arguing that Romanticism is dominating modern culture to the detriment of Enlightenment ideals. It is available on Amazon (amazon.co.uk) and the info page is here.
He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).
Featured image: Parnell Square East, Dublin. Site of Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire closed off as a crime scene. (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin, 24 November 2023)
