A far-right rally attracted roughly 250 protestors outside the Dáil today. The so-called “March for Innocence” was organised to call for the resignation of Green Party TD and children’s minister Roderic O’Gorman.
Scuffles
The rally was attended by the leaders of Ireland’s main far-right parties as well as prominent far-right activists. This included the Irish Freedom Party and the National Party. Attendees could be seen holding banners with nooses on them.
Also in attendance was Traveller activist John Connors. He denounced anti-racism activists as being fascists. And he accused O’Gorman of having an “agenda” when it comes to children.
Scuffles also broke out after a number of the crowd confronted anti-racism and anti-homophobia activists. Members of the gardaí were forced to separate the two groups.
Earlier in the week Irish Freedom Party leader and spokesperson for UKIP, Hermann Kelly, declared that there is an “extreme LGBT lobby pervading our schools”. He also accused anti-racism activists of being in favour of paedophilia.
Far-right homophobia
Earlier in the week O’Gorman issued a statement saying he has been the victim of homophobic attacks and conspiracy theories aimed at him by the far right. It stems from a photo of O’Gorman with LGBTQI+ activist Peter Tatchell taken in 2018 at Dublin Pride.
It emerged that in 1997 Tatchell wrote a letter to the Guardian in which he said that some children make a “conscious choice” to have relationships with adults. He has since argued that paedophilia is “impossible to condone” and “I condemn it”. And that his letter to the Guardian was edited by the paper.
In his statement O’Gorman pointed out that he had only met Tatchell once, when the photo was taken. What’s more, he insisted that “far-right Twitter accounts” were “using manipulation for their own ends”. And that they were “playing upon the genuine, deeply held concern we all share for child protection”.
Featured image via Twitter – Dr. Robert Bohan Artist
