Protests against LGBTQ+ events and books in Ireland are imports from far-right in the US

A senior analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which investigates and researches online misinformation, hate and extremism, says the storming of events in libraries or the destruction of copies of books, are part of a strategy that first emerged in the US

June's FÓRSA solidarity rally in support of Cork City Library staff who were abused for including several LGBTQ-inclusive titles in their children’s section. Picture: Denis Minihane

Days after a group of protesters shouldered their way into a daytime Drag Story Hour event at Tralee Library, filming volunteers, attendees and performers and shouting that the event constituted the “grooming” of children, many of the same faces showed up at Drogheda public library last week to protest the inclusion amongst their titles of LGBTQ+ inclusive books for a variety of age ranges.

These are just two recent examples of an emerging pattern of increasingly confrontational protests in Ireland, with close links to similar movements originating with Christian fundamentalist and right-wing groups in the US.