An Garda Síochana declined to issue a statement on far-left extremism when asked, despite Europol identifying the vast majority of terror arrests in Ireland as coming from groups on the radical left.
As previously reported by Gript, Europol’s annual ‘European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report” records that 78.2% of terrorism arrests in Ireland from 2012-2023 related to Dissident Republicans.
The 2023 report explicitly specifies that these groups are “Socialists” in league with “left-wing extremists” and “Marxists”.
Earlier this week, Gript asked Gardaí if they would confirm that they are aware of and concerned about the phenomenon of far-left extremist ideology in Ireland, and if they would release a statement on the matter.
In response, Gardaí issued a general statement saying they monitor violent extremist threats from individuals and groups “aligned to an ideology or none.”
They added that newly-appointed Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly had “highlighted the ongoing threat from dissident republicans”, and said that they were concerned about the “proliferation of extreme opinions” and “extreme views” in general, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic and international events such as wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East.
They added: “An Garda Síochána does not comment on matters of national security.”
Gript responded with ten examples of Gardaí making public statements specifically referencing “far-right” extremism, and asked them if they were unwilling to use the phrase “far-left” in a statement.
A Garda spokesperson replied that “An Garda Síochána has no further comment on the matter.”
The news comes after on Saturday a series of videos were posted to social media of a rightwing anti-immigration group being physically assaulted and hospitalised by a far-left self-described “Antifa” group affiliated with Dissident Republicans, who boasted that they would use “guns if necessary” to silence their enemies’ “free speech”. Authorities say that investigations into that matter are ongoing.
Gardaí have made numerous explicit references to “far-right” extremism in recent years in their official communications and media briefings, even speaking at an Irish Council for Civil Liberties conference in May of this year entitled ‘Policing of Far-Right Intimidation in the Republic of Ireland’.
Then-Garda Commissioner Drew Harris previously remarked that the poor electoral performance of the “far-right” highlighted the lack of support for the political movement, and, following scenes of public disorder in Dublin, referred to the culprits as a “lunatic, hooligan faction driven by a far-right ideology.”
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris condemned the “disgraceful scenes” unfolding in Dublin.
“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence,” Harris said.pic.twitter.com/46jfTwbkvW
— Ground News (@Ground_app) November 23, 2023
During the Covid-19 lockdown in February 2021, following a public order incident, Harris told RTÉ News that both far-right and far-left factions were involved in the scenes. However, he later withdrew the “far-left” part of the remark amid backlash.
Upon his appointment to his new role last month, newly-appointed Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly told the media that he doesn’t want to focus exclusively on “far-right” extremism, arguing that there is violent extremism “on all sides of the [political] spectrum”.