Irish Examiner view: Fuelling hate and ignorance

President became the target for utterly unacceptable social media abuse after he signed the Health Amendment Bill

Many demonstrations have been understandable if not admirable expressions of frustrations shared by the majority, but shot through with less tolerable and  dangerously anti-science strands that persist in spreading fear and gross dishonesty about life-saving vaccinations.

It seems reasonable to suggest, even if that suggestion confirms an enduring, hopeful worldview, that Brexit and the Trump presidency would not have happened without the knowingly dishonest tirades of some social media voices. It is beyond argument that those dishonest voices encouraged the January 6 assault on American democracy and that they, to this day, encourage the defeated Trump to pile delusion on dishonesty when he insists he won the White House election. That he, despite his immediate family distancing themselves from his lunacy of the spurned, has convinced so many Americans of the justice of his cause is more than unsettling, especially as that capacity to believe the fantastic is like a ripple reaching ever further shores.

Versions of those ripples, thankfully no more than ripples, reached many capitals this weekend when protests against covid measures were held in many countries. There were relatively modest demonstrations in Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, Britain, Croatia, Austria, Australia and other countries too. There were protests in Ireland as well. The most generous estimates suggest that fewer than 2,500 people took part in Dublin's Saturday demonstration, a reassuringly tiny event.