We have a right and need to protest but it must be peaceful
THE right to protest and to peaceful assembly is a fundamental part of our democracy. It empowers everyone in our society to go on to the streets to express their political views directly to the government and the wider public.
The right to protest has strong protection under the Constitution. The Gardai have a legal obligation to facilitate protests and protesting groups are not required to seek permission in advance, as is the case in many countries. Protests in central Dublin often involve tens of thousands of people across all strands of political, economic and social life.
The right to protest applies to everyone regardless of their views and it is especially important for people who feel their views are not adequately represented in the political system.
The Irish and European courts have also made clear that protestors are entitled to be provocative up to the point of being offensive and to cause a reasonable level of disruption if that is necessary to make their point.
Without protests, Irish public discourse would be much duller and the range of opinions heard would be much narrower.
But the right to protest is not unlimited. Crucially it is a right to peaceful protest, and the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that where a protest is intentionally violent and set on causing public disorder, those instigating that violence forfeit those rights.
Protestors also need to take into account the rights of others. Your right to make your political argument can’t be at the price of denying the basic rights of those around you.
The events around Leinster House on Wednesday are now the subject of criminal investigations, but the widespread footage articulates quite clearly when that line between peaceful protest and criminal violence is crossed.
Missiles were thrown and threats were directed at politicians, journalists and public servants.
In responding to these small groups we must not weaken rights of the majority
The Gardai present succeeded in preventing serious injuries, but significant levels of disorder prevented TDS, Senators and others from entering and leaving the Oireachtas.
How protests in the area are policed and managed will now be reviewed, but it is crucial that in responding to the extreme tactics of a very small group, we don’t weaken the constitutional rights of the majority. The ability of Irish people to gather and express themselves at the doors of our national parliament makes our politicians accountable in a way that is increasingly rare in western democracies. Our politicians value that too, and over the last few days many have expressed how much they appreciate the opportunity to meet and speak to groups bringing their message to Leinster House.
At the same time, it is also important that we understand who the groups involved on Wednesday are. While the messages from the event were confused and confusing, the main leaders and organisers are well known to the Gardai.
Some of these are the same people who have led harassment of library workers around the country on the issue of LGBT books and who have coordinated demonstrations at refugee accommodation centres, which have led to incidents of violence and arson.
A common link is the presentation of a series of conspiracies involving all politicians, journalists, public servants and civil society against the people. More than simply expressing views on migration or education, these small extremist groups are claiming that all the main political parties are conspiring with global forces to cause harm to the people.
The use of a gallows as a prop with pictures of TDS from all parties was the gruesome expression of this fascist ideology.
The pattern of small extremist groups radicalising people online around certain sensitive wedge issues of social policy, drawing them deeper into such conspiracy theories and ultimately trying to translate that radicalisation into political violence is not new.
We have seen it applied with
dreadful consequences in the United States and elsewhere. Indeed, most of the messaging of these Irish farright micro-groups is cut and pasted from American sources.
What they have shown in Dublin this week is that they don’t enjoy any substantial public support.
We should not give them any victory by diluting the rights of others, but where they are engaged in criminal acts they can now expect to be met with the full enforcement of the law.
How such tiny groups are able to amplify their message so widely also raises questions of regulating social media platforms, in particular how they recommend content, which are deserving of urgent attention.