Latest angry protest outside Dáil more bizarre than intimidating
People protest outside Leinster House on Thursday morning. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins
The latest edition of the Far Right, live from the Dáil, was far more of a bizarre experience than an intimidating one.
After the last appearance of some 200 protesters at the gates of Leinster House on the first day of the Dáil session in September — a day replete with a portable gallows, 13 arrests (and charges) and TDs getting jostled for their trouble — Thursday’s affair was something of a damp squib.
A crowd of most likely a little over 100 had gathered on Molesworth St, about 200m from the gates of Leinster House, from 10am.
The protest never got any closer to the Dáil however. With Garda barriers erected at all three approach points, and the closest barrier itself only accessible via a search cordon, the protesters remained at a distance.
The atmosphere was tense, but never much worse than that.
The ‘globalist traitor’ signs were there, as were the Erin go Bragh flags. But a whole swathe of more discursive signs was also in evidence, mostly aimed at the fact that Ireland has a major homelessness problem and at the same time has so many daily refugee arrivals that the State is struggling to accommodate them all.
Those signs called for reasoned debate, though their bearers were less reasonably disposed towards a solitary lady who showed up with a sign reading ‘racists out, refugees welcome’, and a whistle.
The signs followed the organisers’ plan of attack however, for this was a protest with a theme: Anti-migrant or immigration-sceptic, depending upon your point of view, couched in a vibe of ‘reasonableness’.
It might have made more sense to play the reasoned-debate card at the previous protest, when gardaí were less prepared. As it was, there weren’t many people at this one, the location was wrong, and as master of ceremonies Denis Delaney noted, “the numbers here aren’t great today; we need to improve on these numbers”.
Part of the reason for the low turnout, together with enthusiasm naturally fading with the passage of time, is a split among the gathered groupings, reportedly attributable to the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, with the Far Right riven by disputes as to which side in that horrific conflict they most identify with.
Probably the most memorable aspect of the whole morning was Justin Barrett, founder of the National Party, describing himself to those gathered as the “legitimate leader” of that political entity in a not-particularly-well-received speech.
Mr Barrett has kept a low profile for several months since apparently being removed as leader of his own organisation in the wake of the alleged robbery of the NP’s gold reserves, worth in the region of €400,000, last summer.
He was back with a bang here though, albeit competing with one protester on a megaphone, building himself into an angry crescendo. The tirade summed up the protest as a whole — a lot of anger, but not much coherence or solidarity.
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