You might think that a government faced with a barbaric public stabbing of schoolchildren and an unprecedented night of rioting in its capital city would extend condolences to the victims, take a deep breath, and try to figure out how a city managed to spiral out of control on its watch. But instead, Thursday’s riots in Dublin were met by a shallow, one-dimensional analysis by all of the key authorities involved: to blame the “far right.”
For example, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris blamed the violence on the streets on a “hooligan faction driven by far right ideology.” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pledged at a news conference to “modernise our laws against incitement to hatred and hatred in general.” And Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that a “thuggish and manipulative element” was using the earlier incident to “wreak havoc”.
The Irish government would have us believe that the most destructive riot in Dublin in living memory was not a symptom of failed governance, but the result of an ideological fringe group going on a looting spree. That is a suspiciously convenient narrative for the powers that be, for it absolves them of all responsibility for losing control of the city. By fingering a Far Right fringe, public officials can wash their hands of any role they themselves may have played in bringing the city to the brink of anarchy.
But blaming these riots on the “far right” only serves as an excuse for not engaging in serious reflection about the deeper causes of this incendiary atmosphere, and the ensuing events. These events did not come out of nowhere and cannot be simplistically reduced to the work of a fringe “far right” mob. “Far right” talk is an excuse for not thinking hard about what led up to this and how public authorities lost control of Dublin’s city centre.
Of course, any sane and sensible person would recognise that going on a looting spree and setting fire to trams and buses is an absolutely destructive, anti-social and counterproductive way to react to a horrible crime. And given that there is documentary evidence that some of the rioters used explicitly anti-immigrant rhetoric, yes, there was undeniably an element of “Far Right” sentiment at work in these riots, if, by that, we mean indiscriminate hatred and anger directed toward immigrants in general.
Nonetheless, to suggest that Thursday’s chaotic scenes can be blamed exclusively on the “Far Right” would be profoundly disingenuous. To begin with, many of the “hooligans” that joined the riots seemed at least as interested in looting shops and finding an excuse to set something on fire as in joining a political movement. Secondly, even if there were important xenophobic elements among the rioters, this does not explain how a city can be so fragile as to succumb to chaos and looting in a few hours.
The attempt to scapegoat the “Far Right” for the breakdown in public order that we saw on Thursday conveniently ignores the fact that successive Irish governments have allowed criminals to wander the streets of Dublin with relative ease. Budding criminals know they will face lenient sentences, partly because there is simply no room in Irish jails to hold them for long, leading to a “revolving door” scenario in our prisons, as pointed out five months ago by the Irish Prison Services.
People feel less safe in Dublin city than ever before, and there is a widespread belief that criminals in Dublin can act with impunity, or else will not suffer a prison sentence proportionate to their crimes. The government most certainly must answer for failing to address this problem over the years. This failure most certainly cannot be blamed on “far right” ideology.
Thirdly, while there is no excuse for attacking police officers or setting vehicles alight, the Irish government has undoubtedly paved the way for these riots by refusing to listen to its citizens for years. Ireland’s political establishment has consistently been dismissive toward reasonable concerns about its immigration and refugee policies, reducing them to the rantings of a “Far Right” fringe. This has created an atmosphere of pent-up resentment and frustration, and it was only a matter of time before this frustration erupted onto the streets.
Many aspects of Ireland’s immigration policies strike people as profoundly unfair and destructive, including allowing very large numbers of asylum-seekers to avail of free or cheap housing on the taxpayer’s dime while Irish citizens are frozen out of the housing market; and flooding local communities with large numbers of refugees with no prior consultation whatsoever. In response to complaints, the Irish government has just doubled down, and given us more of the same “open door” immigration policies.
So when a city is taken over by thugs for a night, we should be less worried about whether there were “far right” elements among them, and more worried about why they felt they could openly engage in this level of brazen violence and destruction and get away with it; and how the atmosphere in Dublin become so tense and angry that a single stabbing incident, however unspeakable, could spark riots on a level we have not seen in generations.
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Varadkar was very candid in his response to the riot. To paraphrase him, the people have let the government down. The government will enforce new laws to shut the people up. A CCTV monitoring system and supporting laws will be introduced to monitor the people. When that fails then it’s the batten charge and the water cannon to suppress them. This is going to end in utter disaster for all of us. Varadkar and his chums. The legal immigrants and the native Irish. There is no upside to the path that the government had chosen from here on out. A government that persistently refuses to listen to reasonable points and choses coversion to silence their critics had chosen to rush headlong in to a cauldron of chaos. You succeed in politics by bringing the people with you not by beating them down.
They have succeeded in politics by talking the talk, but not walking the walk leads to ‘beating them down’ to remain in power…
This government believes so much in the rule of law that it thinks endless drafting of legislation will have those who even contemplate contravening it quaking in their boots. A stroke of a pen is worth a slew of deeds seems to be their strategy.
The politicians that make up our government cannot afford to admit they have been very wrong about the unrestricted influx of unvetted people. If they did they they might well be forced to admit they were wrong about their covid response and climate response and a number of other very costly mistakes. This could well end the political careers of many and that for most of them would be a disaster.
A very good article. It is ridiculous to ascribe political motivations of any kind , from anywhere on the spectrum, to looting and rioting . It was opportunistic. When the UK erupted in riots all over the country following the police shooting of a black man nobody tried to claim that the far left were behind those riots.
But it is not just the rioters who were being opportunistic. The government is using the events of that night as a pretext to rush through Hate speech legislation and new facial recognition laws. Whether you agree or disagree with these measures they were problematic for the government to introduce before the riots and now they intend to have them in place within weeks. The Gardai , within 24 hours of the riots have water cannon at their disposal . Again , this would have been a controversial procurement before the riots but now it has already happened with barely a mention in the press.
There is an old political saying ‘Never waste a crisis.’ Governments have a window of opportunity immediately following a crisis to enact measures that would have been difficult for them to enact before the crisis and this government seems to have grabbed that opportunity with both hands.
So , directly as a result of one night of mindless opportunistic criminal behaviour Ireland is changed forever. It becomes a state where water cannon will be used as a crowd control measure, mass surveillance an everyday reality , and limitations imposed on free speech with all the additional attendant police powers associated with that.
None of this was made necessary by one night of criminal activity. It was made necessary because Ireland has become a vastly different, changed place in a short space of time. The government should at least be honest about that and not try to use one night as the reason . But the government cannot admit the truth because they only ever claim that Ireland is changing for the good and anyone who disagrees is a far right racist. And of course the government cannot claim that Ireland is changing for the good and that they need draconian powers to impose that good on the people. Such a claim would be patently false and ridiculous so they cannot make it in a joined up way . They needed the Dentons ‘veil of protection’. They needed something to deflect from the flaw in their logic, something to deflect from the glaring reality that if your policies are good and sound you do not need draconian powers to carry them out. That something came along in the form of an evening of rioting. You get the feeling they were just waiting for it.
I agree with this view.
Meanwhile Varadker remains dogged in his determination that nobody has a right to veto who lives near them, beside them, or in their town or village. A group of 1,200 out of a population of 1,795 people in Rosslare are protesting the second plantation of their village. 350 ‘refugees’ there already. Now another 420 set to move into what was originally to be a community nursing home.
Varadkar says community engagement on asylum is not about seeking permission as he ironfists another 70 into Killarney amid protest. The world famous tourist town already has 3,000 ‘refugees’ in about 40% of the town’s tourist accomodation. Great money to be made in asylum centre provision as the government is pouring unlimited amounts into it, some of the Wicklow figures only found out through a leak. Protests everywhere but he is unflinching in his zeal as he ramrods more busloads into unwilling towns and villages. His ironfist controls the dissenting masses against continuing unlimited, uncapped immigration across the open borders of our small island. Over 1.4 billion in Africa alone, all of whom can claim asylum here whenever they want. Other countries with a far lower percentage than Ireland, have stringent policies now but Ireland continues to welcome all arrivals with open wallet, in a climate of open discontent.
A good overview Mary. And yet the government either believe or pretend to believe that all of this is not , and won’t be , a problem.
But history is littered with examples of disastrous developments that started with governments thinking there wouldn’t be a problem.
Excellent statistical analysis there Mary
Well said. In hindsight a vote for the current leadership was a vote for a rod for the back of the Irish people.
They also have no comprehension of what ‘far right’ is. I’m a geeky amateur historian who has read a lot about Nazi Germany. It trivialises what the Nazis did by describing a couple of hundred ‘hoodies’ burning cars and looting shops as ‘far right’.
So aside from displaying their ignorance about contemporary Ireland it also denotes total ignorance of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Apartheid South Africa, the southern States of America under Jim Crow, the Pinochet regime in Chile, Franco’s regime in Spain and I could go on & on
I agree with your first paragraph and the ignorance of these destructive looters. One needs to put into perspective deaths under tyrannical rulers: China and the USSR with Germany under Hitler lead the way, all in the tens of millions and millions. These are followed by Franco in Spain and Mussolini in Italy with hundreds of thousand of deaths. Were our leaders in Ireland appalled by what happened in these countries and express public outrage or later express great regret at their failure to do so?
Surprisingly Apartheid South Africa, portrayed as one of the worst, was only accused by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of being responsible for some 7000 deaths over 46 years in clashes between military/police and civilians – with some of these in criminal incidents. Compare the treatment of people there with that of the treatment of citizens in India in their class system over the same period. Few voices in the West have denounced this with a similar vehemence and moral outrage.
Western politicians quickly latch onto any narrative they believe they can use to further their ambitions – even if not true – or use to distract from their failures. It seems quite credible that over 600 000 Ukrainian men have died in the war there and as many injured but all our politicians seem concerned about is how to accommodate Ukrainians here but not end the war. I find this despicable. I despise the US and European warmongering from the comfort of their offices.
Gosh, hit the nail on the head with this post!!
In relation to calling the rioters “Far Right” and how ineffective it is at this stage I don’t think the establishment are actually using those labels in order to dissuade the rioters or the protestors. I don’t think the establishment are even trying to reach the middle ground anymore. They are circling the wagons and only trying to reassure themselves.
The radio discussions about last Thursday sound like group therapy.
“Far Right” made sense as a strategy back when East Wall started and the middle ground were in play. Don’t listen to them gurriers down there they’re all Nazis. You don’t want to be a Nazi too.
For the last few months the opinion polls are saying that the establishment has lost the battle for the middle ground. The labels aren’t effective that way any more. TDs and councillors are now siding with the protestors.
However proclaiming that the rioters are all Far Right has one last role. It’s a signal by the establishment to their own. Shouting about the Far Right threat is now being done to show who’s got whose back in the bunker. It’s about showing solidarity and encouraging the faithful. The great and good of Versaille loudly reassuring one another and afraid to look out the windows.
Shrewd analysis.
Are the TDs siding with the protestors ?
There are more councillors. Less bought.
I think now that if the government want to point fingers and blame someone it should look at itself. For as long as I can remember those on social welfare get a couple of hundred euros per week plus other benefits…so where is the incentive to work…those yobs causing trouble there wouldn’t be there if they had jobs. Social welfare should be like other countries…it will assist you but in order to live get a job. Both sides don’t know the meaning of far right.