Varadker promises a ‘crackdown’ on “far-right” groups following the rioting that was sparked off by yesterday’s stabbing. The problem is that most of the rioters were not part of any such groups and in reality the whole riot was little different to what happens at Halloween every single year.
Ireland has traditionally been very liberal when it comes to immigration, but Ireland had a hyper-critical and deliberately engineered housing crisis long before the current fighting in Ukraine kicked off and it was clear that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael had no intention of doing anything other than keep property prices up via squashing supply. To then bring in 100,000 people almost overnight would inevitably be seen as treating foreigners better than locals, which is on top of existing ill-feeling with private house buyers having to compete with deep-pocketed local authorities. Classic shortage politics.
There is not much out there about the details of the stabbing that started all this but it is alleged that far-right groups falsely claimed the perpetrator was an immigrant in order to stir up trouble. But why created an environment where they could easily do such a thing? Ultimately blaming someone for the spark is the go-to excuse for those who filled the room with gas.
However this is all an excuse rather than a reason. Just look at who was rioting.
The real elephant in the room is the way undisciplined youths were allowed to thrive in Ireland. I have personally been harassed by feral children on the Luas who know that softy-softy “child protection“ laws mean that they can do what they like without consequence and I as an adult have to simply suck it up. Any adult in that situation who does anything else gets months of guilty-until-proven-innocent hell even on the most patently false abuse charges. And these kids full well know this.
Three or so years on and we now see someone who looks circa 20 shovelling burning boxes into the back seat of a Garda squad car. Maybe it was the same teenager who rammed a Garda car in Cherry Orchard and then got off scot-free. Clearly no concept of consequences.
At least when the French riot they have purpose. This riot is long-brewing social failure.