It seems to this writer that the national discourse, at least, has taken an astonishing turn of late, with previously taboo utterances coming thick and fast recently – foremost among them being the admission that Islamic radicalisation is a growing problem in Ireland.
This comes to us courtesy of the Independent’s Ken Foy, who interviewed the head of An Garda Síochána’s Special Detective Unit (SDU), Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Woods. Det Chief Supt Woods told the Independent that the SDU has been involved in “at least 10 interventions in the last number of months in relation to ‘radicalisation and religious extremism’”.
The article very much ties that “radicalisation and religious extremism” to Islam, further stating that in recent times, “Ireland has seen isolated incidents of extreme violence by young males who have been radicalised online to become involved in Islamist terrorism”.
It cites the example of the young man who’s been jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to the attempted murder of Fr Paul Murphy at Renmore Barracks in Co. Galway last year. The then-16-year-old boy was supportive of Islamic State (IS) and had been radicalised online, the Central Criminal Court was told, with further analysis and findings, such as graphic videos of beheadings and an IS flag, “suggestive of a radicalised Islamist mindset,” as it was put.
The article cites the example of another person, a 23-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, currently facing charges for a knife attack and separate arson incident, who is also believed to have been radicalised.
The bottom line is that radical Islamism appears to be flourishing in Ireland, after at least a decade’s worth of warning that just such a situation was possible, if the country’s Government and security forces weren’t careful. But the people worried about that possibility, as we all know well at this point, were continuously tarred as ‘far-right’ and racist. Yet another case of the far-right, even if some of the points are sometimes crudely communicated, being right so far.
Indeed, Douglas Murray’s landmark book, The Strange Death of Europe, convincingly laid out the case almost a decade ago that Islamic fundamentalism threatened to take root across the continent, if it hadn’t already. He cited, even at that early stage, a number of examples of people who’d been attacked or murdered for speaking unsatisfactorily about Islam or Muhammed, and the chilling effect that had already set in, muting conversation on the topic for all but the boldest.
He concluded one of his chapters discussing the rise of radical Islam and the censorious effect it was having with the prophetic sentence: “The fact that everybody, from Europe’s most devout atheists to the head of the Catholic Church [Pope Benedict XVI], was simultaneously falling foul of the same forces [radical Islam] still seemed not to be enough of a warning.” The bracketed insertions are my own, for context.
But then, on radical Islam, as with immigration more generally, Ireland is somewhat behind the curve.
The Christmas season on social media this year (despite the fact that Advent has hardly begun) is already characterised by images of the insane defensive measures countries have put in place at Christmas markets across the continent, ranging from festively coloured concrete blocks (to prevent vehicle ramming attacks) to heavy-duty metal barricades and bollards that have to be manually operated to allow non-violent traffic to flow by the market in question.
Another feature of continental (and British) Christmas markets now are military patrols, fully equipped with stab vests and automatic rifles, a sight that requires conscious effort on the part of merrymakers not to be unsettled by.
It’s easy to be blasé about these developments, but we still live and operate in a window in which it’s possible not to be. These were not features of European Christmas markets once upon a blessed time, and neither was Islamic radicalisation. It goes without saying – or should go without saying – that Islamic radicalisation is not the only form of radicalisation governments or societies ought to be worried about, but it is a particularly virile form, and one that’s been allowed to flourish in the darkness cast by enforced taboo.
So while being able to talk about a serious problem is poor consolation, it is some consolation, especially while the potential will and resources remain to do something about it, at the levels of everything from policing, to cultural education, to State policy.
In that, there is some cause for hope.