Ireland investigates UFC champion for opposing mass immigration

Irish authorities are investigating UFC champion and Irish national Conor McGregor for “hateful” remarks he made on social media following Thursday’s stabbing of three Irish children near a school by a suspected Algerian Muslim immigrant.

Reports say the attacker stabbed a five-year-old boy, a five-year-old girl, and a six-year-old girl before also attacking a school worker who tried to shield the children. He was neutralized by passersby who knocked the attacker down. The little boy and one of the girls have been discharged from the hospital but the five-year-old girl and the 30-year-old woman remain in critical condition.

Protesters launched demonstrations in central Dublin Thursday night, calling on politicians to close the border to migrants and tighten immigration policies. The protests grew violent as some demonstrators set vehicles on fire and vandalized certain establishments. A Holiday Inn Express believed to be housing migrants was set on fire and mosques were reportedly targeted. A bus was also set ablaze with the word “OUT” scrawled on its front. Several police officers were hurt and thirty-four people were arrested, according to The New York Times.

“Ireland, we are at war,” McGregor posted on X following the stabbing attack. “Do not let any irish property be took [sic] over unannounced,” he added in a separate post. “Evaporate said property. It’s a war.”

International news media and Irish officials were quick to pin the protests on “hate” and the “far-Right.” Irish police force Garda Chief Drew Harris blamed them on a “hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology.” 

McGregor responded to Harris’ remark, saying, “Innocent children ruthlessly stabbed by a mentally deranged non-national in Dublin, Ireland today. Our chief of police had this to say on the riots in the aftermath. Drew, not good enough. There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Make change or make way. Ireland for the victory. God bless those attacked today, we pray.”

The next day the mixed martial artist said he did not condone the violence but continued his demand for more protection for Irish nationals: “Last nights scenes achieved nothing toward fixing the issues we face. I do understand frustrations however, and I do understand a move must be made to ensure the change we need is ushered in. And fast! I am in the process of arranging. Believe me I am way more tactical and I have backing. There will be change in Ireland, mark my words.”

The Garda is now investigating McGregor for hate speech, reported The Telegraph. Ireland Deputy Prime Minister condemned McGregor, who he called an “isolated voice” and accused of “essentially inciting hate and a degree to some extent incitement.”

McGregor has been critical of the government’s mass immigration policy. After a Slovakian immigrant named Jozef Puska stabbed 23-year-old teacher Ashling Murphy, McGregor called for “serious policy reforms regarding Ireland’s immigration and refugee processes.”

On Friday Ireland Prime Minister Leo Varadkar cited the riots as reason for Irish lawmakers to pass “incitement to hate legislation” which was delayed after fierce objections earlier this year.

If the Irish Parliament passes the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022, Irish citizens who are caught in possession of “hate speech” may face up to five years in prison unless they can prove in court they did not have hateful intent. “Hate” is not defined in the bill.

“I think it’s now very obvious to anyone who might have doubted it that our incitement to hatred legislation is just not up to date. It’s not up to date for the social media age. And we need that legislation through, we need it through within a matter of weeks,” Varadkar said last week, according to Irish publication The Journal.

“Because it’s not just the [social media] platforms that have responsibility here and they do. There’s also the individuals who post messages and images online that stir up hatred and violence and we need to be able to use laws to go after them individually as well,” he added.

Varadkar also said he plans to use the riots to push through legislation aimed at increasing facial recognition surveillance which has been met with opposition.

“We’re also bringing through legislation at the moment around the use of CCTV [camera surveillance], the gardaí collected a huge amount of CCTV evidence last night, we have a lot of CCTV in the city centre,” he said. “It’s important that we’re able to use modern technologies to go through that and go through it quickly.

“So we want to make sure that we make those changes to our laws in the next couple of weeks to allow the gardaí to use that evidence and go through that evidence and identify the people who are involved in these actions and we are going to get them.”