The phrase “Irish Lives Matter” was written outside of the Kennedy Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland recently. That sign, along with another stating that residents “will no longer accept the re-housing of illegal immigrants,” are now being investigated as hate-related incidents.
‘Irish Lives Matter’ Labeled As Hate Speech By Officials In Ireland Amid Dublin Protests https://t.co/TZy9WmzrIW #OAN
— One America News (@OANN) December 1, 2023
“Vile, intimidatory signs were erected in the Suffolk area calling for immigrants not to be housed there. Meanwhile, ‘Irish Lives Matter,’ was scrawled on a wall at the Kennedy Centre on Falls Road overnight,” wrote People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll.
People Before Profit is a far-left-leaning political party in Northern Ireland that has enjoyed some recent political success in the country. It is important to note that Carroll’s social media profile includes images supporting the “Black Lives Matter” movement in America.
“Nefarious and far-right elements are seeking to blame migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees for the problems caused by the rich and governments who protect and bolster corporate profits at all costs,” Carroll continued.
Protests broke out in Ireland following reports of the stabbing of five people including one woman and three children about a week ago. As One American News reports, “An Algerian man was named as the main suspect in the stabbings…outside of a Gaelic-speaking, ‘all-Irish’ school earlier that day.”
Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar condemned the Dublin riots that saw 34 arrested and reports of more than 500 people involved in looting and destruction.
“These criminals did not do what they did because they love Ireland, they did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people, they did not do it out of any sense of patriotism, however warped,” Varadkar told reporters the Friday morning after the riots.
In response to the riots, Varadkar vowed to “modernize laws against hatred” but many believe the new laws will be an affront to freedom of speech in the country.
According to Fox News, “The proposed anti-hate law notably criminalizes the possession of material ‘likely to incite violence or hatred,’ and could reportedly punish individuals for merely having memes saved to their phones that some may consider politically offensive.”
