Staff at a Dublin library were confronted by protesters on Thursday objecting to the availability of what they termed “pornographic” books related to LGBTQ+ issues.
The demonstration began in Swords village, a suburb in north county Dublin, under the supervision of gardai and ended at the local library where they claimed many of the offending texts were available to young readers.
There, about four representatives of the group were permitted access to the library where they engaged with staff for approximately 15 minutes, according to witnesses.
A counter protest of a relatively similar size, organised by People Before Profit, took place on the opposite side of Swords main street.
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Fingal County Council said representatives of march organisers the Natural Women’s Council, the Irish Education Alliance and the Parents Rights Alliance, submitted a letter to its nearby offices.
Leaflets handed out by protestors listed several books including the controversial This Book Is Gay, a non-fiction exploration of growing up as LGBTQ, by the author Juno Dawson. In total, six titles were listed on the leaflet, including the Trans-teens Survival Guide, all of which the protest groups said were available in libraries.
“Concerned men and women across the country have seen sexually explicit books in the children’s sections of our public libraries,” it said. “Many of the books contain pornographic material that would be X-rated it if was a film.”
Parental consent is required when a child joins a public library and further consent is sought before they move age category.
Staff at Swords library declined to comment on Thursday’s protest. A witness described a medium-sized group holding banners, with some “shouting”. However, another said a group of four representatives were allowed inside to speak with staff. Security was subsequently posted at the library’s front door.
The demonstrations began at about midday close to the town’s Pavillions shopping centre before arriving at the nearby civic offices. There, a small group of representatives were allowed inside while security blocked others from entering.
Fingal County Council said in a statement that approximately 30 people were in each of the two groups and that gardai were present throughout.
In a statement, gardaí said the groups dispersed before 3pm. “No arrests were made. The role of An Garda Síochána is to ensure peace and public order is maintained,” a spokeswoman said.
According to a number of people present at the demonstrations, gardaí escorted some protesters inside the library. Fingal for All, an activist group present at the protests, says it will meet An Garda Síochána on Friday to seek an explanation behind the decision. Gardaí made no comment on the subject when asked by The Irish Times.
Karen Power, a Green Party councillor for Balbriggan on Fingal County Council, said she was concerned by such reports: “It would be worrying if that was the case because the group that organised it said they were going to remove books and destroy books, not borrow them. If they couldn’t get access to the books they made it clear they would intimidate the staff.”
She added that if gardaí were not aware of the groups’ intentions, “it would be the responsibility of elected officials to inform them”, praising the force’s willingness to engage in the past.
In its counter literature, also handed out on Thursday, People Before Profit said librarians and teachers were facing “hate filled attacks by right wing bullies and conspiracy theorists”.
“All these people have is contempt, not concern, for young people who may be struggling with their sexuality or gender identity,” it said, adding that the idea of library staff providing pornographic material to children was “insulting to their professionalism” and ignoring the requirement for parental consent for service access.
It emerged separately on Thursday that health authorities were taking steps to remove references to This Book Is Gay from a sex education resource for schools which campaigners had deemed inappropriate because of sexual content aimed at children.
