On Saturday, April 26, an anti-immigration protest took place in Dublin city centre. A counter demonstration also took place at the same time as the anti-immigration protest, with around 1’000 people calling for solidarity with migrants and action from the government on the current housing crisis.

Organised by United Against Racism alongside other anti-racism groups, the counter-protest aimed to challenge the anti-immigration rally planned for the same day in Dublin. In a post shared on social media ahead of the event, the organisation highlighted that, “Everyone in Dublin deserves to feel safe and welcome, no matter where they’re from. On April 26th, we’ll stand together to show that Dublin is a multicultural, inclusive city—and we won’t let racism take hold.”

Among the organisations and groups that took part in the counter-protest were the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, the Union of Students in Ireland, and nearly 40+ others, alongside members of opposition parties including Labour, People Before Profit, the Social Democrats, the Socialist Party and the Green Party.

While some claimed that the anti-immigration rally was solely a protest about the poor treatment the Irish were getting from their government, and an Easter Rising commemoration, many participants expressed anti-immigrant sentiments. Examples of this included chants of “Get them out”, the presence of images of Trump on multiple banners, and the leader of the National Party and participant Justin Barrett saying to a reporter, “I think you’re a Jew and I think you should go away”.

 

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A post shared by United Against Racism Ireland (@unitedagainstracismireland)

To combat this, United Against Racism and other anti-racism groups took to the streets chanting “Refugees are welcome here” as they held signs that read “The only Minority destroying Ireland is the rich” and “It’s a Housing and Health Crisis, NOT a Refugee Crisis”.

Speakers who addressed the crowd at the counter-protest included Ollie Bell, organiser of Trans & Intersex Pride Dublin, who spoke out against the recent UK Supreme Court ruling on the definition of “woman”, as well as the far-right overall. Bell also mentioned Irish mixed martial artist Conor McGregor, who supported the anti-immigration protest.

The turnout was roughly 1,000 protestors against the 5,000 protestors at the anti-immigration march, according to RTE. However, these numbers might be inaccurate. Moreover, there have been claims that many of those who took part in the anti-immigration rally flew in from the UK.