Séamas O'Reilly: The blame for the housing crisis falls on the Government, not those fleeing war

We must be clear-eyed and vigilant about the people behind these protests and what they actually want

Séamas O'Reilly. Picture: Orfhlaith Whelan

It’s hard to gauge numbers from the recent anti-immigrant protests in Ireland, but it’s safe to say there’s more than there should be. Recently, a friend’s plea for tolerance on Facebook was jumped on by organised anti-immigrant pages, and soon he was inundated with replies of depressing vehemence and anger. Scrolling through the responses, a few clear patterns emerged. A lot of those most angry about immigrants were angry about other things too; the tyranny of LGBT rights and vaccine mandates being the two main prongs of the grievance trifecta in at least half of cases. Some redoubled their belief that refugees should, in fact must, be vanquished with violence. And there were also first-hand accounts from people local to refugee housing, seemingly ordinary folk who spoke of fears they had relating to the safety of their children. Fears expressed, however, using the borrowed rhetoric of committed far right activists who have parachuted into these communities — and the replies of every social media post going — to espouse their alarmist falsehoods.

This is the challenge for people and news organisations at this juncture. We have a chance to greet this with the response it demands. To offer facts and rebuttal to those genuinely looking for answers, yes, but to deny, oppose and reject those stirring the pot for their own nativist ends.