Far from being patriots, the Irish far-right loathe Ireland more than anyone else, Joe Brolly has said. 

The barrister and podcaster witnessed Thursday’s attack on Parnell Square and has spent the intervening days reflecting on the nature of the violence that played out afterwards. 

Many far-right figures reacted gleefully to the riots and Mr Brolly’s assessment of them was withering. 

“No one hates Ireland more than the Irish far-right,” he told The Hard Shoulder. 

“They hate bus drivers, librarians, Luas drivers, teachers, women, gays, trans - they loathe trans people - politicians, they can’t stand politicians,” he said. 

“They hate working people, Muslims, Jews - [they spread] the Jewish replacement theory, we see them on O’Connell Street making these outrageous antisemitic speeches. 

“The GAA, nurses, doctors, the homeless, sports people, they hate me. 

“And they’ll happily smash up their own city and loot shops because hate is transferable. It’s got nothing to do with politics.” 

'The aim overall is to destabilise democracy'

Mr Brolly was also unimpressed by Conor McGregor’s decision to tweet that Ireland was “at war” and that the child on Parnell Square had been attacked by a “non-national”. 

Mr McGregor has condemned the rioters but Mr Brolly described his rhetoric as overall unhelpful. 

“At war with whom?” he asked. 

“Brazilian Deliveroo drivers, Filipino nurses, American tourists? 

“Then when it kicks off - and I didn’t see Conor on O’Connell Street when it kicked off - those were despicable scenes and he uses two pictures, he must have done some research to find them, two pictures of non-whites looting in his tweet. 

“Then you’ve got the Britain First leader cheering this on because the aim overall is to destabilise democracy and [distract] poor people from the real issues and causes of inequality. 

“So, instead of organising for social activism, they riot, attack and loot. 

“Then what happens? Their kids go to prison, their future’s destroyed… It’s entirely self-defeating.” 

Since the riots, 48 people have been arrested and Gardaí are looking for photos and videos that could help identify other rioters.

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Main image: A car burns on Parnell Street as rioters cause chaos in Dublin city centre, 23-11-2023. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews