We publish a far-right activist’s views so they can be seen in all their unvarnished disgrace

TODAY, we make the decision to publish the contents of an interview with far-right activist Derek Blighe.

In doing so, we run the risk of giving him a platform for his disturbing political worldview.

However, this newspaper has, in the two years since Vladimir Putin launched his illegal war in Ukraine, endeavoured to cover the influx of refugees from that country, and the corresponding rise in far-right rhetoric, without fear or favour.

We have committed to contextualising Government policy failings in this regard through rigorous reporting, and we have repeatedly warned of the dangers of bad actors cynically exploiting the normal tensions that such sudden and largescale immigration brings to every developed country in which it has ever occurred.

In a social media post, in the week of the anniversary of the Stardust disaster that claimed so many young lives, Mr Blighe shamefully made the suggestion that it is ‘a tragedy waiting to happen again’. Today, we publish further comments from the founder of the embryonic Ireland First party, who has said that he will be contesting the forthcoming local elections.

We do so in order that our readers can see them in all their unvarnished disgrace.

Mr Blighe’s misogynistic comments about Justice Minister Helen McEntee call into question his right to play any part in Irish public life. Were it not for his separate comments – where he says he would not report to gardaí the threats of arson at refugee accommodation centres that are regularly posted by acolytes on his social media – his nakedly sexist remark that Ms McEntee is a ‘moron’ who should ‘be put back in the kitchen’ would prove to be beyond the pale in its own right.

However, his reckless and glib attitude to the hate that has been fomented online is the real Trojan horse, yet he makes the claim that he cannot be held responsible for how his tweets and posts on other platforms are being interpreted by those who read them.

This despite the fact that he has falsely identified buildings that will be used to house refugees, leading to protests beside them, when no such plans ever existed.

This newspaper, and this Republic, will not take lectures from a jumped-up egotist bent on sowing chaos and discord.

While he is as entitled as any other citizen to put his name forward and test the strength of his political ideas with the electorate, we hope that by shining a light on his unsavoury views, people with legitimate concerns and questions over Government failures on the issue will think twice about making him the standard bearer for their fears.

If services are lacking for all, that is a fault in proper governance, and not of those sheltering here from Russian bombardment and brutality, or from persecution elsewhere.

We urge our readers not to be taken in by an ideology that condones unlawful disorder. We have an abiding faith in the Irish electorate.

Come what may this year, and despite the challenges we all face, we will show ourselves to be a society that believes in tolerance of our fellow human beings –– and kindness to those who are victims of circumstances beyond their control.