There is no reason to assume Ireland will remain immune to anti-democratic threat
The scene outside Leinster House as Dail Eireann resumed on Wednesday . Photo: Gareth Chaney / Collins PhotosUgly scenes on the streets around Leinster House on Wednesday offer a stark reminder, should it be needed, of the danger for our democratic society posed by an emboldened far right. Elected representatives and employees were subjected to vile abuse, manhandling and threats of violence as they went about their work by a group of 200 or so individuals.
Senior gardaí met members of the Oireachtas on Thursday to discuss security around Leinster House, including whether to introduce a new “safety zone”. That discussion is necessary but should proceed with caution: draconian measures can play into the hands of the same malevolent forces which caused them to be introduced. The right to peaceful political protest at our national parliament has been honoured and respected for generations.
Just over a century since Mussolini’s march on Rome introduced fascism as a political concept to Europe and the world, its contours remain instantly recognisable. The valorisation of violence. The accusations of betrayal. The peddling of hate against outgroups and the marginalised. The vainglorious assertion of blood and soil nationalism and of a spurious ethnic identity. All of these were on show on Wednesday.
A period of intense electoral contestation is about to begin, with local, European and general elections all due within the next 15 months. At such a time it becomes more important than ever for civic society in all its dimensions to stand united and resolute against this evil, pernicious and anti-democratic threat.
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