The scenes in Dublin on Thursday night shocked the nation. Wanton violence, arson and looting on the streets of the capital is almost as alien as the fascist rhetoric emanating from the instigators. It's clear many of those involved were simply an anti-social element, engaged in what's known as recreational rioting, however, the bigots will manipulate these disenfranchised youths and claim their nihilistic violence is anger directed at the government's immigration policy.
Many may be surprised by the scale of destruction and the level of hatred peddled by those seeking to exploit the situation for political purposes, but the portents for an explosive reaction of this kind have been increasingly evident for some time.
The Blueshirts notwithstanding, historically the Republic has been largely free of any associations with far-right ideologies. The fact that for much of its 102-year history emigration rather than immigration was regarded as the major societal problem helps explain why organised xenophobia and racism never really took hold.
Ireland's colonial past also meant its population was more likely to be sympathetic to people who'd been displaced due to conflict or forced to leave their homeland in search of greater economic opportunity.
But in the past two decades or so circumstances have transformed. In tandem with the south's growing economic prosperity, immigration and the intake of refugees has reached unprecedented proportions. This has been driven by expanding EU membership, conflicts in the likes of Syria and Ukraine, and the need to address the problems that arise from an ageing population.
Last month, data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that there are almost 632,000 non-Irish citizens living in the Republic, around 12% of the population. Nearly half of those are EU citizens, while a further 83,000 are British.
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An affluent, educated and progressive society like the Republic should, and can, effectively manage these population shifts. However, in urban areas of deprivation where their impact is felt most accutely, already strained public services can come under pressure. Such circumstances are often exploited by those with a poisonous, jingoistic agenda, as is the lack of affordable housing, an issue that owes more to laissez faire economics and poor planning than any apparent 'influx of foreigners'.
There's been a notable rise in the anti-immigration movement in recent years, much of it manifesting itself in protests at locations where refugees and asylum seekers are housed. The same agitators seize on every negative incident involving a person who wasn't born in Ireland to claim that every migrant is a criminal or deviant.
Meanwhile on social media platforms, in unregulated, often unchecked forums, the right are stirring hatred and agitation.
Racism in all forms should be faced down and anti-hate law tightened, while Ireland should continue to hold out the hand of friendship to peoples across the world. At the same, however, a mature conversation about the impact of immigration and integration should take place, free from the dog whistles of intolerance. To ignore this issue will enable extremists to dictate the narrative and likely result in more unrest further down the line.
