Gardaí are gathering intelligence, and liaising with the PSNI, after a number of well-known far-right agitators from Dublin attended an anti-immigration rally in Belfast at the weekend that descended into violence.
One of them is on bail in the Republic relating to a series of criminal charges arising from his attendance at anti-migrant events and allegedly attacking gardaí.
Some of the Dublin activists – who refer to themselves as “Irish patriots” online – appeared at the Belfast protest holding Tricolours alongside members of the loyalist community brandishing union flags.
Taoiseach Simon Harris on Sunday expressed his disgust at “those flying the Irish Tricolour whilst attacking police and spouting racism”. He said “this is repugnant to everything the Irish flag represents”.
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The rally in Belfast on Saturday also featured people from the “Coolock Says No” protest, which is opposing the use of the former Crown Paints site in Coolock, north Dublin, as accommodation for about 500 foreign nationals seeking asylum.
Police in Belfast on Saturday were forced to separate the anti-migrant and anti-Islamist protesters from a group attending an anti-racist rally at the City Hall. PSNI officers in riot gear were deployed to separate the groups, with three arrests made and a number of criminal damage incidents being investigated as hate crimes.
Gardaí are now seeking to establish the nature of the links between the Dublin-based far-right groups and like-minded activists in Belfast.
One of the Dubliners is facing a range of public order charges over his alleged conduct during disorder close to a centre for migrants. Regarded as a violent and volatile man, he was once pepper-sprayed by gardaí as they tried to subdue him at a protest.
He is the chief suspect for a separate incident at an anti-immigration protest in which a Garda member was injured, and also faces charges of alleged theft, as well as other related crimes. He has previous convictions related to the drugs trade and was previously investigated for allegedly obstructing workers installing water meters.
Another of the Dubliners who was at the Belfast protest has made threats of serious violence in anti-immigrant posts online and called for the use of explosives. He has urged members of local communities to form safety patrols to offer protection from unspecified threats from migrants.
Recently active at protests in Dublin, including Coolock, and Dundalk, he has been making efforts to link anti-migrant groups across the Republic while spreading disinformation about migrants here and abroad.
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