NEW IMAGES FEATURING Sinn Féin’s logo alongside slogans like “refugees are welcome here” have appeared in fringe groups online, though they were not produced by the party or its TDs.

Sinn Féin has confirmed that the images, which are an apparent attempt to mislead voters about the party’s policies on immigration, are a hoax.

The images were posted just days after another doctored image containing the party’s logo was shared online, which appeared to promote a joint immigration policy between Sinn Féin and People Before Profit that was welcoming of refugees.

The latest images feature pictures of Sinn Féin TDs alongside slogans that are also welcoming of refugees, and were posted in anti-immigrant groups on Facebook.

Text on one such image, posted on 28 September reads: “Laois says yes. Say it loud, say it clear: refugees are welcome here.”

The image also features a picture of Sinn Féin TD for Laois-Offaly Brian Stanley, who denied producing them when asked by The Journal.

“I have not released those posters and I do not know where they came from,” he said.

Patricia Ryan, a former Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South, also denied releasing an almost identical poster which featured her image (which was shared online before her resignation from the party on 10 October).

A spokesperson for Sinn Féin also denied that it had produced the images.

“These were not produced by Sinn Féin,” the party’s press office said of both pictures.

The images are the latest attempt by anti-immigrant groups to misrepresent Sinn Féin’s position on immigration on social media. 

Another fake image, posted on 18 August, featured the party’s president Mary Lou McDonald and deputy leader Michelle O’Neill wearing Muslim headscarves.

That image also featured the outline of a man performing Muslim prayer movements toward stylised minarets. “Time for change,” that poster read. “Vote Sinn Féin.”

The Journal has also recently debunked fake ads shared on social media that purport to show Sinn Féin selling “burkas” featuring the party’s logo from its online shop.

Images of Sinn Féin’s leader Mary Lou McDonald, which were fabricated to make it appear as though she was wearing a burka, have also been shared among far-right groups on social media.

Since major anti-immigration protests began in Ireland in late 2022, Sinn Féin has become a target of anti-immigration and far-right groups who have criticised its policies on migration as being left-wing or too similar to the government’s.

Fringe groups involved in the protests often accuse Sinn Féin of being “traitors” – a sentiment which has been loudly expressed at demonstrations.

They also seek to paint the party as having a role in Ireland’s immigration policy, despite it being in Opposition and having no role in setting rules around asylum seekers or immigration.

However, Sinn Féin has also been accused by left-leaning groups of pivoting to the right on the issue of immigration to capture votes from dissatisfied voters in anticipation of a general election.

The party’s updated immigration policy, announced in July, sought to outline its stance on how it differed from the Government’s and included plans to see greater enforcement of deportation orders against asylum seekers who had failed in their bids to seek refuge in Ireland.

The attempts to smear Sinn Féin also lean into anti-Muslim and Islamophobic rhetoric that is a common feature of anti-immigrant groups.

In Ireland and abroad, these groups have attempted to conflate a progressive stance on immigration with Islam, sharing Islamophobic narratives which claim that tolerance of Muslims will lead to Islamic religious law being implemented in the West.

That narrative forms part of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, a white nationalist, far-right belief which claims that white citizens in Western countries are being replaced by non-white populations from Asia and Africa.

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