Fake anti-migrant leaflet warns girls to ‘stay indoors’

A LEAFLET warning girls to ‘stay indoors’ due to the arrival of migrants was distributed in Dublin ‘to drum up fear’, according to local councillors.

The pink flier, which falsely claimed to be from the Irish Centre for Diversity, has reportedly been dropped in letterboxes in Ballymun in north Dublin and also shared widely on social media.

It read: ‘Girls to stay indoors after 6pm (until further notice). New arrivals to this area are not accustomed to Irish cultural norms at this transitionary time. Thank you for your compliance.’

Small text at the bottom of the pamphlet states that it’s from the Irish Centre for Diversity, a partnership with ‘Ralltas nd hEireann’ – a misspelling of Rialtas na hÉireann, the Irish Government.

The Irish Centre for Diversity confirmed that it reported the matter to gardaí.

‘We are aware that a leaflet is being distributed in local areas and across social media,’ the group said in a statement.

‘We are not associated with the leaflet in any way and the unauthorised use of our name has been reported to An Garda Síochána,’ it added.

A spokesman for the Department of Integration also said it had no involvement in the creation of the leaflet.

‘The department is aware of the leaflet. The department strongly condemns such incidents of deliberate misinformation, which are clearly intended to create division and hostility,’ the spokesman said.

Councillors from Ballymun described the pamphlets as a cheap tactic to mislead.

Councillor Anthony Cunningham said: ‘The protests we saw in recent weeks have largely died down so I think it’s an act of desperation to drum up fear.

‘It’s pure misinformation. We’ve had similar false reports in Finglas in connection with the alleged assault of a woman. The rumour mill went into overdrive with claims that migrants were involved. However, it turned out to be total lies.

‘There were also reports that a pub was being used to house refugees recently. There was a large protest outside the premises with people shouting “out, out, out”. But the only people in there were locals having a few quiet drinks,’ he said.