Dublin Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin’s plans to protest Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Dublin this Saturday is “laughable,” and an example of “selective moral outrage,” according to Independent TD Carol Nolan.
On Friday, Mr Ó Ríordáin said that he was organising a protest outside the Aviva Stadium in conjunction with Labour LGBTQ+ ahead of Ireland’s match against Hungary. The Hungarian leader arrived in Dublin on Friday and will attend the men’s soccer World Cup qualifier between Ireland and Hungary at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow night.
The visit, organised by the Hungarian Football Association, will not include meetings with any Government ministers or Taoiseach Micheál Martin. The Department of the Taoiseach says it has not received any request for a meeting from the Hungarian embassy.
Ó Ríordáin has claimed that Mr Orbán is “not welcome in Dublin” over the banning of Pride parades in Budapest and having “aligned himself with Putin while Ukrainians are suffering and dying, and who stands for everything that football rejects.”
“Football is about unity, diversity and bringing people together – Orbán represents division, repression and hate,” the former TD said while calling on people to join the demonstration at 7pm at the Shelbourne Road podium entrance. He said that support would show that “Dublin stands with the Ukrainian people, with the LGBTQ+ community, and with all those who resist his brand of authoritarianism.”
Carol Nolan TD, commenting on Friday, said:
“Labour are perfectly entitled to express their strong view on Prime Minister Orbán’s visit. But I find Aodhán’s attempt to frame this as somehow rolling out the welcome mat for authoritarianism absolutely laughable given his own party’s full throated support for the free speech authoritarianism embedded in the last government’s legislative folly- the hate speech Bill.
Referring to the arrest of Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan in London this week, she added: “Where is Aodhán’s concern for civil liberties in the case of Graham Linehan, or does an Irishman’s heavy-handed arrest by armed British police not register as an attack on civil liberties? Is it only the establishments preferred categories who must have their civil liberties protected?
“Or what about the massacre of Christians worldwide by fanatical Islamists? Where is Aodhán’s protest outside the Nigerian ambassador’s office? This kind of selective moral outrage is typical of the virtue signalling charlatanism we expect from the left.
“Aodhán, as far as I recall, wouldn’t even stand with the people of East Wall regarding their immigration concerns. But I suppose the constituency of his admirers in Hungary are more important to him.”
In a statement, Mr Ó Ríordáin said that Dublin was “a place of welcome and solidarity, not one that tolerates bigots and autocrats,” claiming: “Orbán might be applauded in Moscow, but he will not be applauded here.”
Writing on social media earlier this year in response to the Taoiseach’s comments on the Hungarian Parliament’s response to pride marches, Mr Orbán penned: “Dear Taoiseach, We Hungarians have always regarded Irish patriots as champions of freedom and national independence. For us, Ireland is a symbol of liberty and sovereignty.
“For this reason, it is always shocking when we see that an Irish patriot chooses to stand on the side of an empire instead of national sovereignty. Please don’t ruin the love story between Irish and Hungarian patriots!’ Mr Orbán said.
Fellow Independent TD Mattie McGrath told Gript ahead of the visit that the Irish Government could “take a leaf out of Hungary’s book” regarding the country’s approach to crime and “pro-family” policies. Hungary’s rate of homicide is lower than many other Western European countries. 2023 data from Eurostat shows that Hungary has significantly lower rates of crime, vandalism and violence than the EU average, alongside Poland.
“Viktor Orbán has supported Hungarian families, with policies in Hungary actually encouraging people to have children.With the birth rate crisis, and our own birth rate dropping by 4.5% in a decade, policies which help people to have the children they want should be supported as a positive thing. I have visited Hungary and met with Mr Orbán and others in his government. I can tell you that families are supported rather than squeezed out of existence, which is what is happening in Ireland with the crippling cost of living and persistent issues with education and the lack of health services.
“Hungary has also experienced a fall in its crime rate,” Mr McGrath said. “On the other hand, look at Ireland – Murders, sex crimes, reports of rapes, and drug importation are crimes which are all increasing here. We have a rocketing crime rate. The Irish government could learn a lot from a leader like Mr Orbán on policy around crime, and this would suit us more than virtue-signalling protests organised by Labour to try and gain some kind of relevancy.”