Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that far-right extremists have become emboldened, not only vocally but also physically. This has become evident in the past seven or eight months in the targeted attacks against buildings that have been proposed for use in housing international protection applicants or others. It is incredible to think that when a building is designated to meet what is a basic need of any human being by providing shelter, another human can feel it must be set on fire in order to ensure the people in question are not housed there. I never thought I would see it in this country but that is the reality. These people are highly motivated. Let us call them what they are. They make up a tiny fraction of our society but they are fascists and ideologues of fascism. This is how fascists work. They sow hatred and division and engage in extreme acts. They conjure up the poison of racism and division and play to people's fears and prejudices. Sometimes they are quite good at that.

Thankfully, the vast majority of people in this country and other countries around the world have rejected these ideas. Irish people have emigrated for a couple of centuries and more and met terrible prejudice and racism. That is in our DNA to a certain degree in that we have empathy for others who come to this country. People who come to this country come for all sorts of reasons. They come to better their lives, and there is nothing wrong with that. If they want to work and play a really good role in society, that is a very good thing.

It is important that we stand up to this kind of poison. The organised labour movement has a huge part to play in that. There will be a big protest at 1.30 p.m. this Saturday in Dublin city centre. It is about people coming together to stand together against the attacks that are taking place and with the thousand people living on our streets without shelter. It is unbelievable that, as a very wealthy country, we cannot even provide these people with shelter to keep dry and warm.

The positive aspects of immigration have touched every village and town in Ireland. I am very proud to be from a country whose people have welcomed other people in the vast majority of cases. I listened last night to a podcast about Bundoran. It is fantastic that people from Ukraine have settled in the town and the vast majority of residents have welcomed people from Ukraine by providing accommodation and employment. This is very important and we want to keep it that way. We do not want to see these acts by individuals who are hell-bent on promoting extremism. I have no doubt these people want to go from burning buses and buildings to burning people. When we look at how fascism and extreme ideology develops, we see that this is what these people want to do. They want to cause division, hatred and fear. There is no doubt they also want to kill people. We must prevent them from doing that. To do so, we must marginalise these people in our communities and workplaces and anywhere else that this absolute filth arises.

It is important that everybody, regardless of political affiliation, stands together against this fascist threat, not only in Ireland but across the world.

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