Ms Steph Hanlon:

There is some repetition to what I was saying and what other speakers have said but, to sum it up in two, this is about language and action. Most important is language. I mentioned political narratives and the responsibility of politicians and Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas to talk about feeding narratives and not to feed into the language not only of the genuine versus the ungenuine migrant and of taking advantage of and exploiting the system, but also of the construction as to who is deserving and who is not deserving. Second are actions. Political leadership is essential.

What can the State do differently? What have we learnt? Let us look at the three key areas on which the far right has focused. One is housing, another is the cost of living and another is violence against women. Those are the areas that need desperately to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Aside from the community and voluntary sector crying out for years about this, those are the areas and the gas on which these flames have risen. It is important to recognise that the misinformation occurs in those two areas. It is legitimised by the language of our political representatives on public platforms but also that lack of leadership and the inaction that surrounds it or the failure to address it is really where we see it take off, and then it falls at the feet of the community.