Far right fringe elements 'whipping up hysteria' in East Wall, says local TD

Gary Gannon: 'People have a right to seek international protection in this country. They are here seeking sanctuary and refuge and we have an obligation to meet that.'

Gary Gannon said anger and fear about the housing and cost-of-living crisis is being “misplaced and sent in the wrong direction”. Picture: Damien Storan

Fringe elements of the far right are “whipping up hysteria” in East Wall in Dublin, which has seen two protests in recent days over the housing of asylum seekers in the area.

That is according to Social Democrats Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon, who said anger and fear about the housing and cost-of-living crisis is being “misplaced and sent in the wrong direction”. 

“This is not something that is reflective of the north inner-city community as a whole. This has been whipped up. Fringe elements of the far right are making people have a sense of fear of the unknown. I think that is what manifested itself last night and on Saturday.

"I don’t want to see those scenes again. People have a right to seek international protection in this country. They are here seeking sanctuary and refuge and we have an obligation to meet that.” 

Speaking on RTÉ radio's Today with Claire Byrne, he strongly condemned protestors who he stated used the phrase “out, out, out” when protesting outside the old ESB building, where the refugees are to be housed.

Mr Gannon said that the people of East Wall should have been informed about the change of use of the building. It echoed the comments of the Taoiseach, who said that although anti-refugee protests play into the hands of Russia, local communities must be consulted on arrangements for housing new arrivals.

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“In the space of that gap not being filled by the State that space was filled by more nefarious movements who were able to take advantage of that and whip up a sense that the Government were once again mistreating the people of the inner city," he said.

"There is a real sense that the people of the inner city have for generations been left behind. But if the State doesn’t inform people what is happening in their constituencies these [far-right] groups will step in.” 

Meanwhile, Immigrant Council of Ireland CEO, Brian Killoran, told the same show that if he was a person from a migrant background living in East Wall he would be “very concerned" about the recent protests.

If people can generalise about asylum seekers they can generalise about migrants in general. We have to be very wary of making assumptions about large groups of people and assigning very broad generalisations of them about criminality.

Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland co-founder Lucky Khambule said he has never seen anything like the scenes in East Wall in spite of having lived in Ireland for a decade.

“The protest, to me and to anyone who has been in the system, is a horrendous way to show the welcome here in this country,” he said.

“I have been here almost 10 years. I came here and I felt welcome where I was. I was in Cork, the community welcomed me — welcomed us — and we have been part of the community since then.

"It is the first time we have seen something like this. This hostility and this anger and this hate that we have seen directed at people that are new in the country and are expecting a much warmer welcome."

Mr Khambule told Newstalk Breakfast that clearer consultation with the community in East Wall could have prevented the protests from occurring. However, he stressed that "everyone should be able to do better".