Avoid a repeat of Ireland’s Night of the Broken Glass

EVENTS in Dublin on Thursday night should make us reflect and ask ourselves: How long more must we wait before we act decisively to reject the extremist elements that are slowly pushing our society towards collapse, into anarchy and racial conflict?

These unrepresentative but well-organized people managed to seize upon a tragic incident and turn it to their advantage, whipping up suspicion and hatred of minorities and ugly scenes of street violence, resulting in widespread destruction of property and turning sections of our capital city into no-go areas.

So, are they going to ‘take back Ireland’ by burning buses and Garda cars, and looting shops?

If and when the extremists stand for election let’s not forget the dark deeds accomplished under cover of darkness to advance their toxic agendas.

There’s a crying need to counteract racism in Ireland, especially through our schools but also via high profile public awareness campaigns.

Anti Semitism, one of the world’s oldest hatreds, is also making comeback across Europe, and the Israel-Hamas war has fueled a revival in the shameful targeting of Jews.

In London, for example, Jewish children in some areas are fearful of going to school in their uniforms lest they be identified as Jewish. But in Ireland this irrational hatred of Jews manifests in offices, canteens and pubs. Whatever our political differences – and we have many shades of legitimate politics on this island – let’s identify racism as a common enemy.

We don’t want to see a repeat of what happened on the night of November 23, 2023 in Dublin when we had our very own Kristalnact – Ireland’s ‘Night of the Broken Glass.’

John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co. Kilkenny.