0:00

This is the BBC. BBC

0:30

Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. This

1:00

is enough, as the toilet says. This is it.

1:02

This is the straw that brought the cameras back.

1:06

On a cold starry night towards

1:08

the end of last November Dublin,

1:10

normally a peaceful place, erupted in

1:13

violence. Young

1:16

men, apparently inspired by far-right calls to

1:18

arms and social media, attacked garther or

1:21

police officers protecting a crime scene. The

1:23

scene of a stabbing of young children

1:25

and a care worker. They just make

1:27

a load of little small groups, have

1:30

one say at O'Connor Street, have one up at Graven

1:32

Street, have one at Smithfield. They

1:34

can't control us all. They

1:36

can't control us all. The rioters,

1:39

with rumours swirling online and believing

1:41

a foreign national was responsible for

1:43

the knife attack, then torched a

1:45

tram, a bus and garther views.

1:52

That night's disorder and level of hatred

1:54

was a huge shock to a country

1:56

where the relatively recent arrival of large

1:58

numbers of immigrants had not been been

2:00

a matter of mainstream public debate. A

2:03

huge shock too, to many of

2:05

those who have moved to Ireland. And

2:07

then I just remember not even

2:09

being able to lock the door because my hands were

2:11

shaking that bad and then we were just running down

2:14

the street holding on to each other. We didn't know what

2:16

to do. The

2:22

Dublin riots was a really, as

2:24

opposed wake-up call for a lot

2:26

of media, a lot of policing and particular

2:29

policing and government. The mayhem has forced

2:31

the Republic of Ireland to question aspects

2:33

of both its politics and its policing

2:35

and to recognise it may have a

2:37

problem with the far right. Separately

2:40

some in the country are now asking, might

2:42

a populist like the mixed martial arts fighter

2:45

Conor McGregor really become president?

2:48

He's passionate about everything I'm saying, very passionate.

2:51

Being a president, of course he'd be the president, he'd have

2:53

to make a president's role different. And

2:55

he would make it different because anything he puts

2:58

his hand towards the goal. I'm

3:01

Shane Harrison and for three decades I was

3:03

a BBC correspondent in Dublin. During

3:06

that time I've seen the Republic of Ireland change

3:08

from a relatively poor country to a much richer

3:10

one. From a country people

3:12

left to one they now want to move to. And

3:16

where they could be guaranteed the traditional Irish

3:18

Cade Miller Forger, the 100,000 welcomes. But

3:22

have the Dublin riots changed all

3:24

that? You

3:34

don't have construction borders in which a lot

3:36

happens to be. The virus stents. You

3:38

won't get, you won't be built in for ten years.

3:41

It's a grey, wintry day and I'm in the

3:44

car with Hazel Choo. She's

3:46

a green councillor in Dublin and a former

3:48

Lord Mayor of the city. Born

3:51

and raised in Ireland, her parents came to

3:53

the country from Hong Kong, opening a Chinese

3:55

restaurant. Hazel, who says she's experienced

3:57

racism throughout her life, is a very important part of the

3:59

world. is taking us to the

4:01

Rings End District in her constituency. It's

4:04

about a mile and a half from the city

4:06

centre and reflects both the old and new Dublin.

4:11

So this was the main stretch that they were

4:13

around, from what I heard. There

4:16

are plenty of red brick council

4:18

homes here, but the area is

4:20

also close to Google's European giant

4:22

glass headquarters where many well-paid people

4:24

from abroad work. Old

4:27

and new clash two on the use of

4:29

a former disused and vacant pub, the Shipwright.

4:33

Some local protesters camped outside say

4:35

it will be used as a

4:37

direct provision centre to house asylum

4:39

seekers. But the authorities insist

4:41

they are wrong. The building is

4:43

to be used to accommodate homeless

4:45

families. Do

4:48

you want to have a... I'm

4:52

not going to the church because there is more

4:54

than nothing. There's been

4:56

a few issues in the

4:58

last week in terms of

5:00

certain known far-right

5:03

sympathisers or agitators coming

5:05

in to spread disinformation.

5:08

Actually, you know what, it's not disinformation,

5:10

it lies. Let's call it what it

5:12

is. So they came in saying, well,

5:14

one of the vacant buildings, which has

5:16

not been in use for many years,

5:19

is going to be used as a direct

5:21

provision centre. And it turns out

5:24

that the accommodation that they

5:26

are looking to use is

5:28

for homeless accommodation. Housing

5:30

has been the main issue in Irish

5:32

politics for several years. There's a

5:34

lack of social and affordable homes and

5:36

rents are sky high. It's

5:39

something Hazel Chiu, whose Green Party is in

5:41

government, is very conscious of. We

5:44

do have a housing crisis, though. That's not something we

5:46

can hide and that's something we need to fix. However,

5:48

does that mean we're full? No, the

5:50

country is not full. Immigrants

5:52

coming in, they're not the ones taking the houses. They're

5:55

not the ones that are filling the units that

5:58

we don't have. We simply don't have. The units

6:00

and we need to build them. As

6:02

I look across the road I see a

6:04

number of men and women outside the building.

6:07

Stuff we were told to go to be

6:09

where they're hopeless sensor is going to be.

6:11

I'm not sure whether they're protesting or not,

6:13

but I'm I'm going to head across the

6:16

road and see whether they are and if

6:18

the off with a cell talk to us.

6:21

As are homeless ever with were of g

6:23

seven. When I know. I.

6:32

Know another in the hopes. Of

6:36

house has now see so. Many

6:40

others as. Well. As

6:42

you've gathered, they weren't prepared to talk to

6:44

us. I reckon the were about thirty people

6:46

that they were sitting behind a table. Many.

6:49

Of them with teas and

6:51

coffees and little cakes in

6:53

front of them. And despite

6:55

being told that was being

6:57

planned for the building is

6:59

the Center for Homes people,

7:01

they remain convinced it's going

7:03

to be for refugees seeking

7:05

international protection. Islands.

7:08

Is seen as space of similar

7:10

peaceful protests in recent weeks. Unfortunately,

7:14

The country has also seen a

7:16

space of arson attacks on proposed

7:18

accommodation centers, including as a surprise

7:20

in Rings and. Just.

7:22

Days after we were there, the place

7:25

was been stoned and that's why less

7:27

than a fortnight later, we're back with

7:29

Green Party counselor Hazel to. I

7:32

think you see here saying that

7:34

their windows are all find out

7:36

the flames have been all access

7:38

to with completely time as well.

7:41

So it's a building that now

7:43

company Lunar surface. And it's

7:45

barricade as and I see a sign

7:47

saying danger overhead works. I seats windows

7:50

that are smashed. I don't think this

7:52

is ever going to be used to

7:54

accommodate homeless people. do. Not

7:56

anytime soon. at the

7:59

height of a housing christ it may

8:01

seem ironic that the former pub that

8:03

was to be used to accommodate homeless

8:05

people, rather than asylum seekers, was torched.

8:08

The lack of homes is being exploited by the

8:10

far right. Housing is a

8:13

complex issue, but they prefer to

8:15

blame immigrants more so than the

8:17

policies of successive governments. You look

8:20

at it and you just think,

8:22

how dare they? How dare they

8:24

do this to something that could

8:26

have been good, that could have

8:28

helped people, that could have supported

8:30

people, and they did this because

8:33

they're protecting people, protecting who exactly?

8:36

It's a great day in Dublin's Parnell

8:38

Square East. Opposite me is Ireland's Garden

8:40

of Remembrance that honours those who took

8:42

abhans to fight the British and the

8:44

crayon. Behind me are

8:47

some of the city's famous Georgian

8:49

buildings, red brick, four storeys tall,

8:51

and with wooden doors of different

8:53

colours. Around half past

8:56

one in the afternoon, on Thursday, November 23rd last

8:58

year, parents

9:00

gathered outside an Irish language school

9:02

to collect their youngsters as they

9:04

bounced out. What happened

9:06

next is the subject of court

9:08

proceedings, but it's alleged that a

9:11

50-year-old foreign-born Irish citizen began stabbing

9:13

two girls and a boy, five

9:15

and six-year-olds, as well as their

9:17

care assistant. That started

9:19

a series of events that have

9:21

forced Ireland to face up to

9:23

its scarcely acknowledged far-right. Eyewitnesses

9:27

to the attack soon began posting

9:29

on social media images and descriptions

9:31

of what happened. Very

9:33

quickly, the alleged attacker was being

9:35

described as a foreigner attacking young

9:38

Irish children. Far-right influencers

9:40

on their preferred platforms like Telegram

9:42

started calling for a mobilisation in

9:44

the city centre, close to the

9:47

scene of the stabbing. My name

9:49

is Ciarán O'Connor. I'm a senior

9:51

analyst with the Institute for Strategic

9:53

Dialogue, who specialises in researching and

9:56

analysing online disinformation, hate, extremism, and

9:58

these kinds of things. dynamics. Reporters

10:00

both at the scene and monitoring social

10:02

media from their offices say the mood

10:05

was changing becoming pregnant with the threat

10:07

of suppressed violence. Before any media news

10:09

reports any guard of statements these kinds

10:11

of things that post read apparently three

10:13

people stabbed on Parnell Street by a

10:16

foreigner. It was this kind of rumor

10:18

mill that was starting to emerge online.

10:22

Monitoring social media Kieron O'Connor says

10:24

the first mention of the alleged

10:26

attackers origins was less than half

10:28

an hour after the stabbing. Some

10:31

sample telegram comments for you include

10:33

time to rise up and rebel if

10:35

a minor had been killed by one

10:37

of those animals this will be the

10:39

beginning of the end for this government

10:41

and their immigration now if this is

10:43

true buildings will burn and then the

10:46

other comment was that this is it lads

10:48

if it turns out to be a foreigner

10:50

related incident it's time to get the petrol

10:52

bombs and baseball bats and kill each and

10:54

every expletive that stands in

10:56

our way burn the doll to the

10:59

ground. As time

11:01

passed the misinformation and level of vitriol

11:03

and hatred was dialed up as

11:05

was the rioters planning as

11:08

this message posted on telegram will show

11:10

but a warning it does

11:12

contain explicit and extremely offensive

11:15

discriminatory language. There

11:17

is any guards in this group you can go

11:19

fuck yourself as well you have blood on your

11:21

hand and look if you start acting the bollocks

11:23

we'll just make a load of little small groups

11:26

have one say our economy Street have one up at

11:28

grab three have one at Smithfield they

11:31

can't control us all they can't

11:33

control us all and

11:36

let's have little groups splintering off doing what we

11:38

gotta do seven o'clock

11:40

be in town everyone value

11:42

up tail up during

11:44

this time as well we saw

11:46

a screen recording appear online it seems to

11:48

be a private telegram group chat but it

11:50

was shared by someone I suppose who was

11:52

in that group chat and it

11:54

was shared on Twitter and the recording

11:57

features audio of members of that group

11:59

chat one of whom whose

12:01

username was kill all immigrants Encouraging

12:04

people to put on balaclava's and come

12:06

to the city center deliberately

12:08

target migrants and non-nationals

12:10

with violence and any

12:12

fucking Jipo foreigner anyone

12:15

Just kill them just fucking kill them.

12:17

Let's get this on the fucking news

12:19

Let's show the fucking media that we're

12:21

not a fucking pushover the normal foreigners

12:23

are allowed into this poxy country No

12:25

fucking mark and no is enough as

12:27

the title says this is it This

12:29

is the straw that broke the camel's

12:31

back your torture fucking kids And

12:34

this is the repercussions and no guard

12:36

no politician Nobody is going to stop

12:38

us telegram told us users only receive

12:40

content to which they subscribe It

12:44

also says calls to violence are

12:46

explicitly forbidden and that moderators report

12:48

and remove content that breach its

12:50

terms We found that

12:52

clip on X formerly called Twitter in the

12:55

last few days The company

12:57

had not removed it and it didn't

12:59

respond to our request for comment The

13:02

hatred generated on social media soon had

13:04

an impact Terrifying onlookers

13:06

and workers who were often born

13:09

abroad Violence flurred go

13:11

the cars were burnt and public

13:13

transport vehicles torched as right police

13:15

and their attackers And they were

13:17

confronted to each other The

13:22

Irish police officers eventually forced the

13:25

rioters down O'Connell Street where I

13:27

am now The main

13:29

street in the city hosts the general

13:31

post office from where Irish independence was

13:33

declared in 1916

13:36

it's also where the 120

13:39

meter tall millennium spire reaches towards

13:41

the sky like a silver knitting

13:43

needle Dubliners have

13:45

nicknamed the spire the stiletto in

13:48

the ghetto and that tells

13:50

us something about the area's reputation On

13:53

its corner is Henry Street a major

13:56

shopping area that has been pedestrianized and

13:58

it was down here that

14:00

rioters fled, many determined

14:02

to smash, grab and steal

14:04

as much as possible. It

14:11

was very terrifying to see, you know, we were

14:14

just leaving the store. There were about five of

14:16

us and we closed the store and we left

14:18

the city centre. It was very, very scary because

14:20

especially being a foreigner in the country, you know,

14:23

the whole riot was targeted at the foreigners. That

14:25

terrifying fear, Shartana from South

14:27

India experienced, was something Raluka,

14:29

a worker in a nearby chocolate

14:32

shop, also felt. She moved

14:34

to Ireland from Romania when she was four and has

14:36

lived in Dublin for the last 17 years. Oh,

14:40

just terrified. I remember when

14:42

the guards first knocked on our door, or like

14:44

I would say banging on our door. We

14:46

were just backing away from them. Instead of going

14:49

to them, we were backing away because we were

14:51

that afraid. And then like other staff members were

14:53

shaking, crying. We were all texting other people just

14:55

to help us. Like we didn't know where to

14:57

go. And then I just remember not

15:00

even being able to lock the door because my hands

15:02

were shaking that bad. And

15:05

then we were just running down the street holding on

15:07

to each other. We didn't know what to do. I

15:09

just remember different people being in corners

15:11

and just staring at us. And, you

15:13

know, like I'm just thinking anything

15:16

could happen. So, yes, I

15:18

would say I am more afraid now

15:21

than I was before. The next

15:23

morning, as the cleanup began in

15:25

an almost eerily empty Dublin city

15:27

centre, a sense grew that something

15:29

had changed. Physical evidence

15:31

of the riots quickly disappeared. The

15:33

debris swept away. Not

15:36

so easily disposed of, they shattered

15:38

self-belief in Irish exceptionalism on immigration.

15:42

The eight people were arrested and

15:44

Gardi say more arrests will follow

15:46

in relation to extremist activity. But

15:48

the Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, Leo

15:50

Varadkar, admitted the damage to Ireland's

15:52

reputation would be longer lasting. disinformation

16:02

as we have heard literally helped

16:04

to found the flames of violence

16:07

hatred and anarchy it

16:09

has become a major concern as

16:11

more and more people abandon traditional

16:13

news outlets and get their content

16:15

from the all too often echo

16:17

chambers of social media that frequently

16:19

exist in a parallel world on

16:37

the day before the white the mixed

16:39

martial arts fighter Conor McGregor tweeted to

16:41

his nearly ten and a half million

16:44

followers worldwide Ireland is at

16:46

war and after the

16:48

violence itself you reap what you

16:50

sow so he did later post

16:52

that he did not condone the rising Karim

16:55

Zidane is a journalist who writes

16:58

about the crossover between sports and

17:00

politics and has followed Conor McGregor's

17:02

career closely for months

17:05

now I've been seeing him sort of spread

17:07

these anti-migrant sentiments on

17:10

social media Kareem

17:12

says the Irish fighter hasn't fought in quite

17:14

a while instead he's been

17:16

promoting both his business interests and

17:18

increasingly his political views rather than

17:20

concentrating on slugging it out in

17:22

the octagon the ring that mixed

17:25

martial arts fighters batter and wrestle

17:27

each other in all sorts of

17:29

disinformation about migrants constantly calling out

17:31

the Irish government as a shame

17:33

and a stain on the nation

17:36

due to its sort of willingness

17:38

to sympathize with and to

17:40

make an effort for migrant workers

17:43

and for migrants in Ireland in first

17:45

place I'm sitting down

17:47

phone in hand looking at

17:49

Conor McGregor's posts on X

17:51

formerly called Twitter the

17:54

most used to be about MMA and his

17:56

own brand of beer but

17:58

in recent months he's been

18:00

expressing his concern about the way

18:02

immigration is being handled by the

18:04

Irish government. Let me call this

18:06

one up. The night before the

18:08

riots he instructed his supporters, and

18:11

I'm quoting of him now directly, do

18:14

not let any Irish property be

18:16

took over unannounced, evaporate

18:18

said property its war. The

18:21

Post has since been deleted.

18:24

And let me call this one up. On January

18:26

the 16th, in response to plans to use

18:28

a hotel in the town of Ross Grey,

18:31

in County Tipperary, the House of

18:33

Asylum Seekers, he wrote that the

18:35

country's immigration system was not fit

18:37

for anyone, that it was not

18:39

safe, not sustainable, and was

18:41

putting children at risk. Once again,

18:43

he accused the government of ignoring

18:46

the issue. We'll

18:48

turn to his political ambitions later. But

18:51

who is Conor McGregor, the sportsman? Of

18:53

course it's been slip-ups, and we're only

18:55

human. And when you face

18:57

a man you're about to fight, it's very

18:59

hard to keep everything in check at times.

19:01

You make mistakes and you make errors, you

19:03

slip up on the tongue. That was Conor

19:05

McGregor at a news conference ahead of the

19:07

boxing bout he eventually lost to Floyd Mayweather.

19:10

He didn't respond to our requests for

19:12

an interview or a statement, but we

19:14

did manage to find someone who knows

19:16

him very well, indeed, who has been

19:18

close to him for years. So

19:21

close that the Irish fighter gifted him

19:23

a luxury pickup truck just a couple

19:25

of months ago. We're

19:28

in a taxi heading towards Crumlin and to

19:30

a boxing club on the south

19:32

side of the river and

19:35

it was here that a very young Conor

19:37

McGregor first got into the ring. It

19:39

quickly emerged that he had a

19:42

bit of a talent, but it

19:44

wasn't in boxing, but in the

19:46

related sport of mixed martial arts

19:48

that he found fame and fortune.

19:50

And we're going to talk hopefully

19:52

quite soon to his initial trainer

19:54

Phil Sutcliffe. Phil

20:10

is a former Irish Olympic boxer, a

20:12

former soldier, and has been a coach

20:15

in Crumlin for 23 years. That's

20:17

him you can hear training, the newest intake

20:19

into the club, kids who want to learn

20:22

how to box. When

20:24

we arrived we weren't quite sure that

20:26

Phil would talk to us about his

20:28

friend Conor McGregor, but when we sat

20:30

down with a cup of tea in

20:32

his office crammed with boxing memorabilia he

20:34

did. He came to the club going

20:37

on 10 years of age, he walked

20:39

in with his football boots, one

20:41

of the other coaches Stephen Cavanagh told him you can't

20:43

come in here with those boots kids you have to

20:45

take them off because we have the wooden floor. He

20:48

went over to the bag, we started messing around

20:50

with the bag just punching it, punching it and

20:52

punching it and he said I want to join

20:54

Mr. He came up next week and

20:57

just joined. Just like any other

20:59

kid out the street you know what I mean.

21:02

After learning to box at Phil's gym

21:05

Conor McGregor took up martial arts including

21:07

jujitsu and then the

21:09

former apprentice plumber headed to America

21:11

and the new emerging sport MMA.

21:14

It's been derided by some as human

21:17

cage, a cock fighting. Kareem

21:19

Zidane again. This

21:21

martial arts is absolutely a

21:24

violent hyper masculine sport and

21:26

it is quite proud of that part

21:28

of its characteristics. It is a

21:30

niche sport that is definitely

21:33

the kind of thing that attracts athletes who have

21:35

a chip on their shoulder. Athletes

21:37

who usually come from counter

21:39

culture backgrounds, athletes who don't

21:41

fit into the mainstream in

21:43

a traditional sense. The

21:46

sport promoted by the UFC, the ultimate

21:48

fighting championship was crying out for a

21:50

hero to take it to the next

21:52

level. Enter stage right

21:54

Conor McGregor, a brilliant fighter

21:56

and a lovable rogue with an Irish

21:59

brogue. And so a sporting

22:01

superstar was born. I'd

22:04

say Conor McGregor arrived in the

22:06

sports of mixed martial arts well

22:08

after the UFC had already become

22:10

a popular sport at least in

22:12

the United States. But he helped

22:14

catapult the UFC to a new

22:17

level of stardom thereafter. I'd argue

22:19

that Conor McGregor's period atop the

22:21

UFC where he was a multiple

22:23

division champion is arguably the

22:25

most popular period in the sports history. Is

22:27

that important? Oh I absolutely think so. Although

22:30

a huge and celebrated sport star

22:32

in America, Conor McGregor stayed close

22:34

to his Dublin roots and

22:37

close to his boxing mentor Phil Sutcliffe

22:39

who defends his friend's tweet that Ireland

22:41

is at war. Conor

22:44

hasn't slagged anybody for being with

22:46

Spartan National. I mean Conor said

22:48

it's a war. It's just a

22:50

figurative speech. It's just a figurative

22:53

speech. Like we should be at

22:55

war with the WHO because they want

22:57

to take all our sovereignty off us.

22:59

We should be at war with our

23:01

own government who are bringing in people

23:03

into our own country with no identification,

23:06

no background checks, no

23:08

anything. But there are international obligations.

23:11

Ireland is committed to housing people

23:13

who come here seeking international asylum.

23:15

Well that's where we should change

23:18

the law. We shouldn't be

23:20

putting up every Tom, Dick and Harry.

23:22

We haven't got the facilities for our

23:24

own. People are lying on trolleys.

23:26

My own mother was on the trolley for five

23:28

days with cancer. How is our

23:30

government allowing this to happen? Because they must

23:32

have taken the brown envelope. Some

23:34

of them must have taken the brown envelope and I'm not afraid to

23:37

say. Phil

23:39

Sutcliffe spoke with certainty about a

23:41

couple of matters that fall under the

23:43

term disinformation. He suggested that

23:45

some of the men attacking Garde

23:48

and robbing stores during the riots

23:50

may have been planted to discredit

23:52

those protesting against immigrants. There

23:55

could have been fellas planted in there to rob

23:57

the shop to get the gang going. Could

24:00

it be? Because. That's what

24:02

they do. He also claims the

24:04

minister with responsibility for Integration has

24:06

placed advertisement in India offering people

24:08

they're nearly a hundred ninety thousand

24:11

pounds to move to Ireland. Neither.

24:14

Claim is true. Fill

24:16

also told us have even he a

24:18

former soldier would be scared to walk

24:20

at the center of Dublin because of

24:22

the number of men particular from Africa

24:24

and Afghanistan. So I reminded

24:26

him of the role that two men

24:28

born abroad had played in saving the

24:30

lives of the children wounded in the

24:32

stabbing. But it has to be pointed

24:35

at the to people who came to

24:37

the assistance of the young girls were

24:39

a Brazilian man and a Filipino nurses.

24:41

The fourth fell under say it was

24:43

a double a lot that took the

24:45

night Bob that the guy that was

24:47

stubborn the children by unfair played the

24:50

Brazilian. As I said, why not?

24:52

racist? I'm just say that the way it is, The

24:55

last few weeks have seen numerous

24:57

protests across the republic outside proposed

24:59

accommodation centers for asylum seekers. As

25:01

Ireland, a country of five million

25:03

people, has had to deal with

25:06

the arrival of over a hundred

25:08

thousand Ukrainian refugees because of the

25:10

war with Russia, as well as

25:12

other people from across the world

25:14

seeking protection. But not

25:16

everyone taking part in those protests

25:18

believes Ardent is for. Were

25:21

about to arrive at Rosslare Harbor.

25:23

Rise of the such violent what's

25:25

what it's about. It's a two

25:27

hour drive from. Cover.

25:34

To live inside to refrigerate,

25:40

For a whole get. Can

25:44

imagine like race is it is

25:46

in area and local people have

25:48

been for testing for several weeks

25:50

of us a plan to use

25:53

used a derelict hooked nose as

25:55

a nurse. asked

25:58

sense and

26:01

we're on our way to meet them now.

26:05

Hello, are you Bernie? I'm Bernie,

26:07

yes, that's me. Well, it's very

26:09

cold out here today, can you tell us why you're

26:11

here? Well, day 58 now. Well, we're

26:13

here because we were promised a nursing home

26:16

and it's not coming, it's being

26:19

turned into an IPAS centre. What

26:22

is an IPAS centre? It's an International

26:24

Protection Candidate. When people

26:27

come to Ireland, our complaint is

26:29

that Ruffer Harbour is that

26:31

saturation. I don't believe that Ireland is full,

26:34

I don't think it's correct to say Ireland

26:36

is full. I believe

26:38

there's decisions by the

26:40

government that have this situation that we

26:43

don't have accommodation for these

26:45

people coming in. Ruffer Harbour definitely

26:47

is full. You can observe

26:49

it yourself as you go around, it's quite a

26:52

small village, we have no hotel accommodation, it's

26:54

all been taken up by Ukraine

26:56

families. We

26:58

have an IPAS accommodation centre just

27:00

above the road there with ACL people

27:03

in it, and that's perfectly fine.

27:06

This is just one little thing too far, you

27:08

know, 400 more people in a village that doesn't

27:10

have the services, one GP

27:12

that's overloaded, one guard

27:14

to protect the whole community, one

27:17

supermarket. What involvement, if any, is there

27:19

from far right elements in this protest? We

27:21

do not want any involvement from far right, it's not our

27:23

agenda here in

27:26

any way, shape or form. And what would you do if they did turn up?

27:30

Well, I think we'd just tell them to

27:32

leave, there's no racism amongst the people here, so

27:34

why should anyone else bring it into our community?

27:38

They'd be asked to leave, and that's

27:40

putting it politely. The Government

27:42

Department with Responsibility for Integration says it

27:44

does a detailed assessment of

27:47

sites for accommodation and provides funding to

27:49

help. The debate

27:51

around asylum seekers is fuelled both

27:53

by a housing and public service

27:55

crisis as well as disinformation on

27:58

social media, and the Dublin Run... clearly

28:00

showed how false narratives had

28:03

real-life consequences. It

28:05

has become a major concern as

28:07

more and more people abandon traditional

28:09

news outlets and get their content

28:11

from the all too often echo

28:13

chambers of social media that frequently

28:16

exist in a parallel world. It's

28:18

a worry too for both the Irish

28:20

police and the government, as well as

28:23

a concern for journalists like Susan Daly

28:25

from the online publication The Journal. I

28:28

think as a turning point for the

28:30

government and for police and for

28:32

other official bodies it's like this

28:34

is out of control, this has been out of

28:36

control and this can get

28:38

out of control if we don't communicate

28:41

more, if we don't

28:44

kind of recognize that there are issues

28:46

in society you cannot stop the

28:48

disinformation the horse has bolted but

28:51

you can build better

28:53

community and better resilience

28:55

to counteract those attempts

28:58

in the future. Many of the high-tech

29:00

social media companies have their European headquarters

29:02

in Dublin and in the

29:04

wake of the riots many wondered why more

29:07

was not done to stop the spread of

29:09

hatred and disinformation but

29:11

Hazel Chu from the Greens says her

29:13

party colleague is doing something. The

29:16

Minister of Culture, Arts and Media,

29:18

Catherine Martin have put together

29:20

a group of media commissioners

29:23

that have policy and codes

29:25

in place that each tech company has to

29:27

follow and if they don't follow it what

29:29

will happen is the fine could be up

29:31

to 20 million or imprisonment so I'm hoping

29:33

that will help change the game. Disinformation

29:36

in this debate hasn't confined

29:38

itself to just housing. If

29:41

repeated often enough it can

29:44

and has entered established political

29:46

debate. Here's another example. A

29:49

constant demand heard from some anti-refugee

29:51

protesters is that they don't want

29:53

single young men living in their

29:55

area because they say they are

29:57

fearful for young women in their

29:59

community. and are worried about possible

30:01

crime. But those fears

30:03

have no basis in fact according to

30:05

the head of Ireland's police force, the

30:07

Garth commissioner and the director

30:10

of the Irish network against racism,

30:12

Shaino Curry, agrees. There is

30:14

no evidence that suggests that people

30:16

from a migrant background are any more

30:18

likely to carry out acts of violence

30:20

against women or children. The

30:23

overwhelming majority of perpetrators as you

30:25

would expect are wise Irish men.

30:27

So let's get a little bit

30:29

of a reality check here on

30:31

who the threat is coming from.

30:34

So in this highly charged atmosphere,

30:36

what's it like to be a

30:38

young male immigrant from an ethnic

30:40

minority in Ireland right now? The

30:42

main reason for me to come

30:44

to Ireland is there has been

30:47

war back home in Ethiopia. I

30:49

came from Ethiopia to Sudan, then

30:51

to Libya, then to Italy, France

30:53

and Ireland. It was a

30:55

very terrible kind of journey.

30:58

When Izana fled Ethiopia, it had been

31:00

his intention to go to Britain, but

31:03

Dublin was where he ended up. He

31:05

was transferred to Rosler. He worked in

31:07

a super value supermarket there and has

31:10

many happy memories. When I

31:12

was working in super value, my customers

31:14

were very very keen

31:16

like to talk to me and

31:18

to help me in any way possible. Even

31:21

my manager, she was like,

31:23

what can I say, she was just

31:25

a second man for me because when

31:27

I was leaving that centre, when I

31:29

got a paper from the government, she

31:31

was providing me a room in her

31:33

house, just like for free.

31:35

Izana says he has yet to

31:37

experience racism. He's been granted asylum

31:39

and is on a path to

31:42

Irish citizenship. He's now studying IT

31:44

at university in the town of Carlo

31:46

where we spoke to him. I

31:49

don't want people to see me as a

31:51

different kind of person. My

31:53

aim is to be a person

31:56

I'm just dreaming to be. talking

32:00

to contribute the community by

32:02

the end of my academic

32:04

career. Unlike other countries,

32:06

Ireland doesn't have a leading far-right

32:08

figure, such as France's Marine Le

32:10

Pen. Until relatively recently,

32:12

it was a country people left

32:15

in big numbers, but now one

32:17

in five here was born abroad,

32:19

and it's a much more multicultural

32:21

and visibly diverse place. All

32:24

this has happened without, at least

32:26

until now, immigration becoming a hot

32:28

political topic. Attitudes towards

32:30

immigration and towards refugees in particular

32:32

is definitely becoming more conservative, significantly

32:35

more conservative. Kevin Cunningham lectures

32:37

in politics in Dublin. He has his

32:39

own polling company, has a particular interest

32:41

in the far-right, and once worked for

32:43

the British Labour Party. There are significant

32:45

majorities that say that Ireland in the

32:47

last year or so has taken in

32:49

too many refugees, and this is a

32:52

significant difference from what we would have had

32:54

a number of years ago. For example, when

32:56

the crisis was unfolding in Afghanistan and there

32:59

were a number of refugees arriving from Afghanistan

33:01

only a couple of years ago, people were

33:03

asked whether we were taking too many, not

33:06

enough, or the right amount

33:08

of refugees, and most people thought

33:10

we were not taking enough refugees.

33:12

So that's a dramatic change in

33:14

attitudes. That's the context for any

33:16

would-be politician, as Conor McGregor hints

33:18

that he may try to transfer

33:20

his sporting fame into the political

33:22

arena. MMA has

33:24

long had an association with populist

33:26

politicians, and Conor McGregor was photographed

33:28

with Vladimir Putin in 2018. He's

33:32

also voiced support for Donald Trump

33:34

and has tweeted frequently about how

33:36

he might stand to be Irish

33:38

president. Indeed, the Irish

33:41

fighter is something of a celebrity

33:43

in certain American right-wing political circles.

33:47

Back in Crumlin, his friend Phil

33:49

Sutcliffe says Conor McGregor has spoken

33:51

to him about being president. He's

33:54

passionate about everything I'm saying, very passionate.

33:56

Being a president, of course he'd be the president, you'd

33:58

have to make a president. role different

34:01

and he would make a different because anything he

34:03

puts his hand towards the gold. The

34:05

Irish presidency is largely ceremonial,

34:07

similar to the British monarchy.

34:10

That's why Phil thinks the presidential role would

34:12

have to change to suit his friend. And

34:15

he believes he has an idea about

34:17

the platform Conor McGregor might run on.

34:20

In terms of politics, right, he

34:23

knows we have too many people in, but

34:25

anyone would know we have too many people.

34:27

Anyone with their eyes open, we have to

34:29

walk for the long term of our grandchildren,

34:31

my great-grandchildren and their great-grandchildren to make Ireland

34:33

the best country in the world, which it

34:35

is. But the way it's being

34:37

run at the moment is terrible. It's

34:39

terrible. So could an influential

34:42

figure like McGregor or a populist

34:44

candidate get elected in Ireland talking

34:46

about immigration and housing? Kevin

34:49

Cunningham believes the MMA fighter, despite his

34:51

10 million followers on X, would struggle

34:54

to get nominated as a candidate to

34:56

even contest the presidency, never mind win

34:58

it. To get a nomination, he would

35:00

need the support of 20

35:03

members of parliament or of four

35:05

local councils. But Kevin

35:07

also says stranger things have happened

35:09

and there is growing support for

35:11

candidates outside the mainstream. Ireland

35:14

has the largest number of elected independent

35:16

candidates in any European country.

35:19

In our most recent opinion poll, 17% of

35:21

people say that they're going to vote

35:23

for an independent candidate. This is a

35:26

significant rise. If you combine attitudes towards

35:28

immigration with attitudes towards populism and changing

35:30

the political system and levels of trust

35:32

and politicians, you can estimate that around

35:35

9 to 10% would actually potentially support

35:37

for a far-right party.

35:40

The next presidential election will be

35:42

in late 2025. So Conor

35:44

McGregor has plenty of time to weigh

35:46

up his political ambitions. I'm

35:49

walking along Dublin's O'Connell Street with

35:51

my producer, Saria. Behind me is

35:53

the River Liffey and O'Connell Bridge.

35:56

In front, the Millennium Spire, the

35:58

needle that I mentioned earlier. in

36:00

the heart of the main street in

36:02

Ireland's capital and in front of me

36:05

I see eight women with a big

36:07

banner, grandmothers against racism. Tharia, do you

36:09

think we should go and talk to

36:12

them? Definitely, let's do it. There

36:16

is a temporary problem with housing. Do

36:18

you know what? We can get over that. We

36:21

are a welcoming people. We do not

36:23

want the message to go out because

36:25

of some idiot who rioted here in

36:27

Dublin a few weeks ago. That

36:29

is not us. We are

36:31

not full. That

36:34

idea of the traditional Cade-Mealer

36:36

falchion, the 100,000 welcomes for

36:38

all, including immigrants, will soon

36:40

be put to the test

36:42

in this year's local, European

36:44

and probably general elections. Before

36:47

they cast their ballots, Hazel Tew

36:49

wonders whether voters will reflect on

36:52

what an Ireland without people born

36:54

abroad would look like. If

36:56

you think all migrants should leave

36:58

your country, then you need to

37:01

ask yourself, well, who holds up the

37:04

hospitals? Who holds up your crashes?

37:06

Who holds up your bar

37:09

restaurant industries? Who holds

37:11

up construction work? Because the construction workers

37:13

currently that are building the many homes

37:15

that we need for this housing crisis

37:17

are migrants. This Farland 4 podcast was presented

37:19

by Shane Harrison and

37:25

produced by Fergus Hewison and Sariya Elango. The technical

37:27

producer was Sue Stonestreet and

37:29

the production coordinator was Tim Fernley.

37:32

The editor was Carl Johnston. It was

37:34

a BBC long-form audio production for BBC Sounds where

37:38

you can find more radio, music and

37:40

podcasts. 30 years ago, the film was

37:42

produced by the British I

38:01

tell the story of a very weird time

38:03

in our history. The media started calling

38:05

me the Mad Cow Professor. Mad

38:07

Cow Disease rampaged through Britain,

38:09

first killing cows and then

38:11

humans. And the

38:13

thing is, after all this time, nobody

38:16

knows for sure where Mad Cow

38:18

Disease originally came from. The general

38:20

feeling is that we will never know

38:22

the answer. Subscribe to

38:24

The Cows are Mad on BBC Sounds.