LAST UPDATE | 18 Feb 2023
LARGE CROWDS GATHERED in Dublin this afternoon to show solidarity with migrants and refugees, standing in opposition to a wave of recent anti-immigration protests.
Demonstrators marched from Parnell Square to Custom House Quay, where a stage had been set up for speakers and musical acts.
The sizeable march stretched down O’Connell Street back to the starting point at the Garden of Remembrance. It came in the wake of anti-immigration protests at accommodation centres for refugees in recent weeks and incidents under investigation by gardaí, including an attack on a tenting site in Ashtown and the burning of a building in Dublin.
Organisations dedicated to support migrants and refugees race were being joined by advocacy campaigns, community groups, trade unions, NGOs, some political parties and more, while the line-up of performers included singer Christy Moore as well as Maverick Sabre, Zeztro, Smilez, Steo Wall and Adam Mohamed.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday ahead of the protest, Chair of United Against Racism Memet Uludag said that it is “not good enough to see rising homelessness numbers in 21st century Ireland, it is not good enough that hospitals are crumbling away and that the health service is under huge stress, and it is not good enough to give lip-service to these public services”.
“We are calling on the government to deal with these societal issues which have been a reason why many people in communities are angry,” Uludag said.
“But we reject hate, racism and anger, and that anger needs to be directed at those responsible for running this country, not the most vulnerable sections of our communities, not to people of colour, not to migrants, not to immigrants, not to women, not to LGBTQ people.”
Additional reporting by Carl Kinsella
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