Right to peaceful protest must always be protected

ONE thing about the Mail on Sunday’s columnist Ger Colleran, is his amazing journalistic ability in tacking emotive issues.

In last week’s Mail on Sunday (January 21) he again was on the money apropos to the issues surrounding asylum seekers, protestors and the part our Government is playing in this political fiasco.

I agree with Ger that there appears to be no joined up thinking by this administration on the placement of these migrants.

Colleran cites that there are, for instance, more than 8,800 Ukrainians in Co. Kerry. It’s incredulous to think that this is almost 6% of the population of that county.

This to my mind is unjust, inequitable, one-sided and profoundly unfair. Is it any wonder people are feeling discombobulated?

Many of these communities haven’t the infrastructure of GPs, schools, shops, public transport, etc available to deal with this population explosion.

However, protestors must now find ways of objecting that does not involve aggression and violence. In Ireland, the right to protest is protected under the Irish Constitution and various international human rights instruments. Yes, the right to peaceful assembly must always be protected. When the motives of these protests are undergirded by nefarious intent, the offenders must face the rigours of the law.

Colleran wonders if some of these protestors are akin to the metaphorical hurlers on the ditch where many of them may have never supported local amenities, but paradoxically are the very first people out of the traps brewing up a storm when an issue of migration arises. If true, it provides all of us with an insight into the minds of some of these extreme agitators.