Mr. John Boyle:

As an educationalist, a huge amount can be done at local school level. A lot is happening. The development of the revised curricula for primary and post-primary will help in that regard. We also have to acknowledge as leaders within ICTU that even though it is a small minority within the far right, some of them could be union members. We have a job to do in our own ranks regarding members of ours engaging in that type of anti-inclusion activity. There was such a mix and gathering of individuals gathered outside Leinster House yesterday and some of them do not even agree with each other. The bottom line is that they are anti-equality, anti-diversity and anti-humanity, absolutely. In that regard, we have working groups within ICTU working towards combating the far right. There is a huge level of engagement across all unions. We have 20 key activists and officials from our unions across the island involved in that working group. We intend to make sure they do not gain any more traction because some of what happened over the past two years throughout Covid - second-guessing our medical profession - involves the same individuals. They tend to turn up at every dogfight, from attacking library workers in various parts of the country to threatening to burn school halls when children and families fleeing war are there for a period during the holidays. It is the same individuals. I support Senator Black's Oireachtas colleague who wrote to An Garda Síochána this morning looking for the policing of this to be stepped up. We would not tolerate this as a trade union movement. We hope the political system is more alert to it than ever after what happened yesterday. There was an attack on democracy yesterday but it has been happening in communities, for example, shutting down the M50 motorway in the middle of the working day and when people are going home. It is very concerning for us in the trade union movement who have been fighting all our lives for equality. Anything committee members can do as politicians to try to snuff it out would be most welcome.