Irish police investigate ‘Irish Lives Matter’ graffiti as hate crime
Ireland’s Garda police force is investigating graffiti stating the words “Irish Lives Matter” as a “hate incident.”
The graffiti, scrawled on the Kennedy Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is believed to be a statement against the country’s loose immigration policies that have brought a rise in violent crime.
“There is no place in our society for this kind of racist poison,” Legislative Assembly Member Gerry Carroll wrote on X. “In recent days we have seen the chilling effect that the growth and intervention of far-right forces in the South can have on communities who are marginalised. We urgently need to call out and challenge those seeking to stoke hate, division, and racism.”
Tensions between taxpayers and the Irish government over immigration have been rising since last week when a Muslim migrant from Algeria stabbed several people near a school, including three small children.
Reports say the man 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. The attacker was neutralized by passersby who knocked him down. The little boy and one of the girls have been discharged from the hospital but the five-year-old girl and school worker remain in critical condition.
Details about the attacker’s nationality were withheld by Garda and news media. When the news site Gript revealed that the attacker was an Algerian immigrant, Gript Editor John McGuirk was accused of racism. The attacker’s name has not been released.
Violent protests in Dublin followed the attack as Irish taxpayers demanded restrictions on immigration. The stabbing came after another Algerian man in August stabbed a former teacher to death. That same month, another Algerian Muslim migrant violently attacked two women and a man who came to their aid.
Immediately following the protests Irish officials began cracking down on taxpayers. The next day Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced new surveillance and censorship measures would be adopted to combat “hate speech.” Garda Chief Drew Harris blamed the protests on a “hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology.” At a Limerick City and County Council meeting, Councillor Azad Talukder, himself a Muslim, said he wanted the protesters shot.
“I’d like to see them shot in the head or bring the public in and beat them until they die,” Talukder told council members.
Irish Labour Leader Ivana Bacik demanded the government “target” the “far-Right.”
“We need to see a real commitment from the government to tackle and target the far-Right, to ensure intelligence-led policing is taking them on,” Bacik told Parliament.
Police are investigating UFC champion and Irish national Conor McGregor for “hateful remarks” after he publicly opposed open immigration policies.
