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Far-right extremists gained huge pool of new recruits among members of rapidly growing social media groups

Monday, 1 March 2021 06:52

The groups are pushing conspiracy theories about the pandemic, according to a researcher on disinformation.

The researcher says Saturday's riot in Dublin followed the same pattern as the attack on the US Capitol in Washington in January. 

There are over forty such Facebook groups operating in Ireland -- and they've grown their membership by around 90% since last July. 

Ciarán O'Connor from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue says the scenes at the weekend were the result of months of online organising by fringe groups: 

Extremist actors, activist groups are using the current period to stir up anger, to stir up hostility, to radicalise people against the current situation, against Gardaí, against NPHET, against the government, and to get people on the streets, and to act about it. And there are people who are turning out with violent intentions to use these protests as a means to inflict violence against their opponents."

There have been calls for another protest against the public health restrictions in Cork next weekend to be banned. 

Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan says what happened in Dublin on Saturday must not be repeated: 

"To think for one second, that somebody might come to Cork City, and decide that they're going to do what was done on Saturday to the Gardaí it's unacceptable. We can't put up with attacks on the Gardaí. An attack on the Gardaí is an attack on us all. So whatever needs to be done, whatever can be done to ensure that if there is a protest that it can be dealt with quickly and efficiently, without putting anybody at risk and I mean both people who are demonstrating and the Gardaí."

 

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