MEMBERS OF THE far-right are preying on the frustration and fears of some people living in deprived areas in a bid to turn them against asylum seekers, a Dublin activist has said.
People Before Profit activist Conor Reddy is among the activists planning events in Ballymun in north Dublin to counter protests taking place outside centres where refugees and asylum seekers are being housed.
Reddy said there is “rightful anger in Ballymun” due to “decades of neglect” and a lack of investment in housing and other services in the area – something he said has nothing to do with refugees.
He said the majority of people living in the locality want to show refugees and asylum seekers they are welcome in the community.
In a bid to combat the spread of misinformation about asylum seekers, Reddy said community organisations and schools are planning a series of events so local people can meet new members of the community.
“A lot of this comes out of fear, fear of the unknown fear and lies being spread. I think that can only be broken down by bringing people together.
“When you actually develop relationships between the community and the new people on a personal level, it becomes very hard for that fear to stick and remain,” Reddy told The Journal.
Some positive news from Ballymun today
— Conor Reddy 🇵🇸 (@ConorReddy95) January 9, 2023
Community orgs, schools, political parties, along with other local leaders united to discuss next steps in how we counter the lies of the far right + make everyone who lives in Ballymun feel at home + part of our community#BallymunForAll
There have been a number of protests outside accommodation centres in Ballymun in recent days, including at a Travelodge hotel on Shangan Road. The hotel currently houses 221 international protection applicants – a mix of couples, families and single people, including nine children.
“Over the past year, communities across Ireland have demonstrated great solidarity and welcome for those who come here seeking refuge. The Department strongly condemns any attempt to promote division and hostility towards those who come here seeking safety,” a spokesperson for the Department of Integration said.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien yesterday said he was “very disturbed” by the scenes in Ballymun over the weekend.
“People have a right to protest, but in the appropriate place. They don’t have a right to intimidate people either,” O’Brien told reporters.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar echoed these comments today.
“I don’t think that there’s any excuse for racism of any form. We’ve accepted maybe 70,000 people from Ukraine fleeing war in Ireland. Our response to that has not been perfect, but I am proud of the fact that we as a country have welcomed so many people into Ireland.
“And of course, there are people that are coming from other parts of the world who are applying for international protection and they have the right to do so.
“We just need to make sure that those applications are processed as quickly as possible. And I just don’t think there’s any excuse for hatred being directed at anyone because of their nationality or their racial background or any other reason,” Varadkar said.
In response to the protests, Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy organised a meeting for community members in Ballymun last night.
The event was attended by politicians from across the political spectrum, activists, and representatives from community groups, schools and sports clubs.
Reddy, who was also at the meeting, said around 50 to 60 people were present. He said there was a general consensus among attendees that misinformation being spread about refugees and asylum seekers is largely to blame for the unrest.
“It was quite a wide-ranging discussion. There was an agreement on the need to directly counter the narrative that is being spread by the far-right – a lot of disinformation about who is in the centre, why they’re there, how they came to be there, that sort of thing.
There’s an agreement across the board that this is being led by the far-right, and that they’re playing on frustrations and anger that predate these centres being used.
Reddy said that a number of events, including a counter-demonstration, will be held in the area in the coming days and weeks.
“I think it’s important that we reclaim the streets from the far-right – they have nothing to offer ordinary people or the working class.”
Reddy said attendees at the protests in Ballymun in recent days have been a mix of local residents and others not from the area, including some people who also attended similar protests in East Wall, Drimnagh and Tallaght in recent weeks.
Reddy described the atmosphere at yesterday’s protest as “really ugly”. “To be honest, I feared for my safety,” he added.
A Garda spokesperson said that the protest yesterday evening was watched by gardaí.
“The group were kept under observation by uniformed gardaí before they dispersed. No offences were disclosed,” the spokesperson said.
#Ballymunforall pic.twitter.com/xfwOpwIKHQ
— Virgin Mary National School Ballymun (@VMNSBallymun) January 9, 2023
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, Lucky Khambule, co-founder of the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi), said that hateful rhetoric towards those seeking refuge in Ireland is rising and becoming more organised.
Khambule said some residents in the Travelodge in Ballymun, including young children, feared for their safety during the protests as they listened to chants of ‘send them home’.
“People were scared … they had to switch off the lights and just peep through the windows to see what was going on. This sense that I get is the fear and confusion as to why this is directed to them. What is it they have done? What are the grievances of the people who are protesting?,” Khambule stated.
Reddy said, in order to prevent situations like this happening in the future, the Government needs to give local communities more notice before accommodation centres are opened.
“I think advance notice of that to prepare ourselves and also to do some of the work that we’re now doing – after the fact – around inclusion in advance.”
Reddy said one of the concerns expressed by people in Ballymun is the strain on local GP services. He said extra resources need to be given to communities prior to more residents moving into the area.
“When there are people moving in in significant numbers, there needs to be some extra resource allocation – both for residents of the centres and for the local community – to assuage some of the fears.
“If those things were done, a lot of this fear, anger and frustration could be avoided. Clear communication around that too is absolutely essential.”
Reddy noted there were a number of successful community events involving local people and asylum seekers in recent months, including a park run with Sanctuary Runners and a gardening initiative.
“Some of the people that have been in the centres have been there for quite a bit before Christmas and have already engaged with services and have been involved in the community.
“The community garden, called Muck and Magic, had a great event before Christmas – we had loads of people who were involved in the community garden gardening alongside residents of one of the centres.
“It’s important for people in Ballymun to get to meet their new neighbours and actually get to know them,” he said.
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