COMMENT: 'I'm afraid to write this column - which is why it must be written'

I’ve reluctantly decided to write this column, because part of me was afraid to, and that’s why I’ve gone through with it.

There’s something very wrong in this country when the local media, and I am referring only to myself in this instance, is half afraid to comment on a developing story out of fear of reprisals on myself or my family.

I’ve a very real concern about how far the agitators might go in terms of their reaction to words in print or online that challenge or scrutinise the events at Dundrum House Hotel last week.

If social media is anything to go by, these people will go after anyone who disagrees or does not conform to their views.

Up until last Thursday, we didn’t have any of our own video or pictures of the protests at Dundrum House Hotel because when we sent a reporter weeks before the flashpoint of Tuesday, August 13, he was warned not to record video or take pictures, that they would send him their own, despite it being a public place.

And that in itself is telling.

Certainly not the local protestors’ finest hour.

Plenty of people did get videos and live streams though last week, and TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) are full of content of people ranting, raving and abusing gardaí and talk of Dundrum being “planted”.

The local protests in the village have been peaceful and respectful mostly and the protestors have even spoken to this paper for a story we did on “Who is protesting in Dundrum?”

And we have never been made to feel threatened or intimidated, video and picture ban aside, by the regular protestors on the ground every day in Dundrum.

READ MORE: Bar at Dundrum House Hotel closed as staff vetted over asylum seekers' arrival

But as is always the case, a more nefarious element gets involved in the protests, not just in Dundrum, but across Ireland, and things escalate, as they did last week.

This is perhaps a wider commentary on the immigration crisis facing Ireland and the reaction to it and the far-right’s involvement in stoking the flames of hate.

Dundrum is just the most recent flashpoint.

Protests have been ongoing at the gates of Dundrum House Hotel since May of this year and without incident.
A fundraising campaign has raised almost €4,000 for the “legends at the gate”.

These protests started upon the announcement that some of the Ukrainian refugees being housed in the hotel for the last two years were to be moved out to make way for International Protection Applicants to be housed there.

READ MORE: Well-known GAA family deny involvement in Dundrum House Hotel asylum seekers debacle

A cohort of the Ukrainians have been moved but many remain at the site and have even taken part in some of the protests.

The group of local protestors have been taking it in turns to ensure their station at the gate is never left unmanned.

Right now, there are 80 asylum seekers in the hotel, they were moved in last week, but the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has confirmed the “location has a maximum capacity of 277 people” and locals fear the impact an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre of that size would have on the local community.

There is currently a blend of IPAS applicants at the site with the existing Ukrainians still there and the centre is operating at capacity.

However, the Department says: “There is no intention to increase the capacity or overall numbers accommodated at this site, regardless of the process under which they are accommodated in Ireland.”

And in the next line they added: “The Department will keep local representatives and media informed of any changes in arrangements at this site when they are confirmed.”

So, you can understand locals’ incredulity.

A group of locals from Dundrum and the surrounding areas are the ones who are protesting for the most part.

They claim they are worried about several things regarding the move of IPAS applicants into the area, such as their belief that they will not integrate into the community, that local businesses will be negatively impacted due to the move, that tourism will be affected, and the fear of moving these people that they know nothing about into the area.

Speaking with the Tipperary Star, Fiona Kennedy, who lives in the Dundrum hinterland and one of the protestors, said that they are being lied to by the Government.

READ MORE: Everything we know so far about the Dundrum House Hotel asylum seeker protests!

She said: “There seems to be no attempt to restore the hotel to what it’s supposed to be. This is the only hotel in the area.”

She spoke about how IPAS centres are not being set up in Ireland for empathetic reasons, but she claims they are being set up “solely for financial gain” and are a “money making exercise”.

She said: “None of this is being done out of compassion, it’s a money making exercise, and the money that is changing hands is unbelievable, and unfortunately the Government is allowing businesses to sell out their communities, sell out just for a mighty buck, you know, and that’s really the thrust of it.”

Fiona spoke about the loss of tourism in the area, and how people who might have holidayed in Dundrum and its hinterland now find themselves unable to do so.

The hotel has been home to refugees from Ukraine for a number of years, and the locals have said that these refugees have integrated well into the community, but they state their concern at present is the prospect of a large volume of asylum seekers and IPAS applicants coming to live at the hotel, and their fears that the hotel and greater community cannot accommodate for these numbers.

The group’s main causes for concern include the lack of knowledge as to who is entering their community, and the rapid increase in population size for a small village with already stretched services.

Peaceful protests have been taking place for months and that’s people’s prerogative and in fairness, locals have every right to feel aggrieved and concerned given the lack of communication around the issue. Local protestors used all peaceful means available to them, they lobbied the Government, TDs and councillors and even went to the High Court to try and block the re-location of the asylum seekers to the hotel.

TDs also have a responsibility for responsible and factual commentary around tense issues such as Dundrum and inaccurate statements to stoke anger are unbecoming of elected representatives. But when D-Day came, and the buses arrived, the far-right agitators wreaked havoc and the local protest escalated into something it had not been.

Perhaps emboldened by the surge in support and the bigger crowd, some of the local protestors made bad decisions that endangered the lives of others. Dundrum was trending on social media in Ireland, many confusing it with the Dundrum in Dublin. And some of the vitriol and allegations online were astonishing.

In another twist in the story, a famous GAA family had to deny any involvement in the ownership of Dundrum House Hotel following reports circulating online that a company set up in their name was the owner of the property.

Any involvement in the ownership of the hotel was denied by former Dublin footballer Bernard Brogan on his official X account.

The seven-time All-Ireland winner posted saying: “Neither myself nor any of the Brogan family are involved in this hotel or any other hotels!”
So, wild allegations circulated, gardaí were abused and it’s understood one local man was arrested as Dundrum took centre stage in Ireland’s immigration crisis. And the Department hasn’t helped themselves either, in a “bolt out of the blue” it has also transpired that the entire grounds including the golf club are now under the remit of IPAS and this has garda vetting implications which have not been carried out.

This has impacted the leisure club and every other public facing aspect left of the hotel.

It’s just hard to see where all of this ends. Not just the Dundrum protest and its issues but the burgeoning number of these types of incidents and these types of protests which ultimately reach boiling point with incidents like Tuesday of last week and there are arrests, public order issues, roads blocked, rocks dumped and a steel girder made to measure drilled on to walls to block a gate etc.

And clearly, some locals added to the flashpoint last week and got caught up in it with the tide of people coming in to join the protest from outside the village and a swell in support maybe from the community also. The profile of a protest, especially on days like August 13, can be hard to pin down.

READ MORE: Business in Tipperary village to withhold rates in protest over asylum seekers in hotel

The rocks were likely locally sourced as well as the steel girder and if it was done locally then that was certainly not the community protest’s finest hour again.

There was a plan there to be disruptive that could have had serious implications in an emergency situation.

The issue also is when anyone who disagrees with the sentiment of such protests, or the gardaí do their job to keep the peace, a certain cohort of protestors label them and everyone a traitor to their country, to their county and numerous people have been vilified and in all probability, defamed, online for coming out against the protest or calling for dialogue and calm.

But is it the protestors in Dundrum that are the problem, or the agitators who jumped on the bandwagon last week in Tipperary and on TikTok and X - which left Dundrum trending across Ireland?

These people from social media - who have moved from being keyboard warriors to actual warriors - are ready to defend their country against an invisible enemy.

Fear feeds them, anger feeds them, it gives them purpose. Defending their country, they claim.

I’m not talking about the day-to-day people at the gate of Dundrum House Hotel.

They didn’t ask for this, but they have found themselves at the centre of a febrile issue.

Instead, I am talking about the people that led to the flashpoint on Tuesday, August 13.

Because there is no doubt external influences played a major role in how it played out and were it not for calm and measured policing it could have been a lot worse.

Why are so many of the “protestors for hire” all so angry?

Why does the immigration issue stoke so much hate, enough for people to travel to other counties or villages to “fight the good fight”?

Look at the people protesting on the Heywood Road in Clonmel where a facility is being built for Ukrainian refugees and the numerous criminal acts that were committed at the site.

How do people have the time, Dundrum protestors included, to devote themselves to such protests?

Why are people being driven, encouraged even by some online, to commit crimes to stop the relocation of refugees and asylum seekers?

That’s the real question to answer, not just for Tipperary, but for the rest of the country at the moment.

It is a very serious conversation and in one way, the media don’t know how to facilitate it because they can’t let their platforms be used for spouting racist remarks or to incite hatred.

You don’t have to agree with the protestors across Ireland and their points.

And you should not be attacked for disagreeing.

Take note, the agitators in Dundrum on Tuesday, August 13 walk among us.

They could be the person behind you at the check-out.

And now these people are emboldened, they’re brazen and they’ve come out from the shadows of social media and the comments section on Facebook and into the real world.

Their reactions are over the top, and are accusatory and conspiratorial.

They believe in enemies, both foreign and domestic, that don’t exist.

Some of the things said to serving members of An Garda Síochána are downright disgraceful.

They were called “scabs”, “animals” and “traitors” for keeping the peace at the gates last week.

To say those things, to people putting their lives on the line for us on a daily basis, is just shocking.

These agitators want us to be afraid, to be afraid of them, of the asylum seekers, of Ukrainian refugees and the Government’s secret plans for “plantations”.

But they cannot win.

Fear, cannot win!