The number of far-right, or anti-immigration, protests being held in Dublin continued to decline through last year and have plummeted compared with two years ago when often violent and racist events were at their peak.
New information obtained by The Irish Times reveals protests connected to the Israel-Palestine conflict are now much more frequent in Dublin than anti-immigration events, and almost never result in arrests.
However, senior Garda sources warned against complacency, saying violence could flare again later this year.
Gardaí believe the much smaller number of anti-immigration events – the majority of which take place in Dublin – is evidence of a general fall off in the activities of the far right. That view appears to be confirmed by a reduction nationally in the number of arson attacks since 2023 at buildings earmarked as accommodation for international protection applicants (IPAs).
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“You still have these small numbers of people whipping things up on social media but the sting appears to be gone out of the activity on the ground, they don’t seem to have been able to sustain it,” said one source. They added that a tougher line on immigration taken by the Government appeared to have “drained away” some of the support for anti-immigration groups and events.
Other Garda sources said many individual far-right agitators remained very active online and still had influence which was potentially dangerous. There was particular concern Dublin’s north inner city had witnessed a significant growth in anti-immigration sentiment in recent years.
However, the same gardaí added some far-right groups that often generated significant quantities of online content, garnering public and media attention, appeared to have minimal, if any, real-world membership or activities.
Senior Garda officers remain concerned anti-immigration protests, at times with violence, may increase again in the months ahead when more centres for IPAs are opened. However, gardaí believe the biggest threat does not come from far-right groups but from disaffected people who may be inspired by far-right rhetoric online and carry out lone-wolf attacks, especially on politicians.
[ Immigration and the rise and fall of the Irish far right in 2024Opens in new window ]
Unpublished Garda figures reveal in the near 11-month period from the start of last year to November 20th, some 605 public gatherings that required a policing presence had taken place in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. Of these, 126 gatherings were anti-immigration in nature while 237 related to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Those figures mean the number of far-right protests in the Dublin region averaged two or three each week through 2024. That compares with an average of about 10 per week in late 2022 and into 2023 when the events were at their peak.
Of the 126 anti-immigration events, 75 took place in the period before May 21st and just 51 on the six-month period that followed.
In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said “the vast majority of public gatherings have been peaceful”. It added that aside from the anti-immigration protests or those related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the remaining protests – about 40 per cent of all the protests in Dublin – related to “a range of other issues and/or a number of issues together”.
“A total of 95 arrests have been made relating to alleged breaches of legislation at these protests,” the Garda added. The vast majority of those arrests have taken place at anti-immigration events.
Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis previously said 75 anti-immigration protests were policed in the Dublin region between the start of the year and May 21st. That total for the near five-month period was almost the same for a much shorter six-week period at the start of 2023, when some 73 anti-immigration protests were policed.
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