The Garda Statement about the investigation into the apparent arson attack on a building in Ringsend over the weekend contains a now almost obligatory statement included in virtually every state communique about the so-called “far right”:
However, while far-right agitators had claimed the building in Ringsend was to be used for the same purpose, that information was false.
Instead, the building – the disused Shipwright pub – was being readied for use by Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DHRE) to house homeless families, including some from the local area.
Gardaí have now said they are “aware of a significant volume of misinformation, disinformation and rumour in relation to the use or proposed use of the building”.
Imagine a scenario where you are tied up in a basement with no windows. You see a large man in a balaclava walking towards you menacingly, holding a knife. Somehow, you manage to free yourself from your bonds, and, on pure adrenalin, overpower and defeat your assailant, injuring him in the process.
In court, where you are being prosecuted for assault, your assailant says that he was actually coming over to cut your bonds and set you free. Unfortunately, the prosecution says, as you sit in the dock, you injured him because you were guilty of imagining a lot of misinformation, disinformation, and rumour. Why, he was coming to rescue you.
In that scenario, you might well wonder: Why didn’t he just say “hang on buddy, I’m coming over to set you free!”
The same question might be posed of the state in relation to the building in Ringsend, and other accommodation centers that have, in fact, transpired to be migrant accommodation venues.
Now, before we continue, the obligatory (and heartfelt) condemnation: Burning buildings is deeply wrong, deeply unhelpful to any cause, and if it continues, it’s going to result in the loss of life. When (not if) that happens, it will not only be a historic tragedy, it will also as an aside be ruinous to the cause of those who advocate politically for restrictions on immigration.
However, it is readily apparent that public anger is running so high that more fire attacks are now likely in 2024. If local communities cannot be heard politically, then there are some who will take the law into their own hands. In many cases, they will get away with it.
That buildings entirely unrelated to immigration may be targeted is, however, a natural consequence of Government strategy, which has, up to now, been to impose information blackouts in relation to migrant accommodation centres for as long as possible, in a bid to “get the jump” on local opposition. An old building is spotted being renovated; worries spread amongst locals; local TDs say they have heard nothing; and the use of the building is confirmed only at the last possible moment. This pattern has been repeated across the country – a deliberate information blackout to stifle local opposition. In some places it has worked, in others it has not.
The state, however, can hardly turn around and bleat about misinformation and rumour when its own communication strategy in relation to migrant accommodation is practically designed to encourage misinformation and rumour: At any point over the last year the state could have decided to change that strategy, and announced migrant accommodation centres well in advance of any work on making those centres suitable commencing. If the state were trusted by local communities to provide accurate information, then there would be no room for misinformation to take root.
But the state will not do that. Nor will they do it in 2024, for the simple and obvious reason that to do so would allow local opposition to organise and oppose. This may be a defensible and even logical choice, from the state’s point of view. However, it is transparently a choice which creates an environment for misinformation and disinformation, which can then be blamed, as ever, on the “far right”.
Ultimately, the present spate of arson attacks on buildings is a result of Government policy. We know this for the simple reason that until Government policy around migration changed, there were no arson attacks on buildings: The old law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction clearly applies in this case.
There is deep irony in the fact that the greatest fear of the Irish establishment is the growth in this country of a “far right” political movement like those in continental Europe, while, at the very same time, the state pursues policies and strategies practically designed to breathe life into such a movement. Political gravity exists, and the fires we are seeing are the expression of that law of human nature. In 2024, we can expect the force of political gravity on this issue to increase further. By the state’s own choice.