You've been looking in the wrong direction, the dangers are coming from the right.

Think you might be living in a different reality. On a global scale, we've had a far right president attempt to overthrow an election result. We've had Putin invade Ukraine and engage in genocide. On a local scale, we've had the local far right engage in arson, harassing library staff in an effort to get books banned, showing up in balaclavas outside of politician's homes and engaging in riots in Dublin. Meanwhile in messaging groups, they were egging on killing migrants...

Dangers seem pretty fair as a descriptor. Don't think there's anything to apologize for.

Im going to ignroe all the bad faith nonsense in this post and focus on the last 6 words you wrote which imply that if you think there are specific conflicts people don't like then you also believe there are conflicts people do like…..

Please tell us which conflicts involving death and murder do you specifically like?

Almost every vile violent oppressive form of government and/or wannabe movement in recent years has been far right …. ISIS … MAGA … those arsonists who target buildings in Ireland … they all have in common a v limited grasp of nationalism and work towards some fanatic implementation of basic and repressive ideas that are designed to make one group more powerful and terrify the others ….

In Ireland we have them too …. thankfully they do not so far gain much in elections …. they started out in recent times with anti-abortion agendas ….. the babers and prolifers …. the same prolifers who cheered on the Iraq war and want the Iran war …. the same babers who are glad to see conscripts sent to their doom in wars against what they call 'satanism' …. babers in various countries only want people to have children in order to have soldiers …

After these babers and prolifers came the anti turbine brigade …. and then the anti mask brigade and antivaxxers during Covid …. then the anti migrant brigade …. all spreading fear and lies with racist conspiracy theories like the great reset and the great replacement theory ….

They find their 'heroes' to worship …. in the past there was Hitler …. today there is Trump …. in Ireland we get some misguided individuals too who worship false idols …. I know of a man who considers John Waters a 'divine being' and another who says Gemma O'Doherty is a 'prophet' ….

Of course … not all evil came from the far right …. other movements had it too …. but the far right have a special madness rarely seen elsewhere …. it can be argued too that so-called 'communists' like Milosevic, Ceausescu, Pol Pot and Stalin really went so far left they ended up far right by default …. indeed a better name for far right may well be irrational political obsession that has the real potential to manifest itself as violence ….

No, it's, "everything far right I don't like".

They're not the same.

When you consider that Dublin is the main population centre of the country and there were recently mini tent cities at the Grand Canal and in Hebert Park - prominent areas of the city - there is no way to make such an issue non-visible.

Mount Street was a little bit out of the way for most people…but Grand Canal?

If the news media tried to ignore the issue that would just move the discussion entirely to informal channels (e.g. social media).

Mass population movements are quite significant. I think everyone understands that regardless of how they feel about it.

I've often seen the odd homeless person in a tent by the Grand Canal.

That's not the same thing as 200 tents springing up or whatever it is or was overnight.

My point is it's already highly visible publicly so the media can't entirely control how it's perceived. They can't disappear it by refusing to cover it.

What is the current situation with tents at the canal? Arw there any still there?

Whatever Maga/ Qanon lunacy happens to be trending in America these gobshites are sure to pick up on it. Libraries are satanic, everyone I dont like is a paedophile, the election was rigged etc.

While the public have largely rejected the far-right politically in the recent election, I think it's time for further action to tackle what this small but belligerent and dangerous group get up to. This article came up on my news feed during the week about how construction workers and even Gardai are being intimidated by 'anti-immigration' protesters in Clonmel.

https://tippfm.com/news/community/call-intimidation-abuse-clonmel-protest-addressed/

The phrase silent majority was used in the article and it sums up how I think people here, by and large, feel about these groups and their activities. Also this week we saw the horrible racist abuse of Rhasidat Adeleke and further online videos of foreigners being beaten up on Irish streets. It's also come to my attention that there's a 'citizen journalist' going around the streets of Dublin secretly recording black people as they go about their business, seemingly as evidence we're being used as a 'dumping ground'.

I'm aware knee-jerk legislation is rarely a good idea but I think we need to see this as a problem which isn't just going to go away by itself. I'd propose we need to push on with the hate bill (though perhaps re-assessed in some aspects), strengthen the offences against the state act to be more akin to modern domestic terrorism laws, and look at how we deal with harassment and intimidation of politicians, and the public, particularly around the use of mobile phone recordings in public places.

Some people take the argument that these are just the usual thugs and 'scumbags' doing what they always do. There might be a grain of truth in that but I think these people are more dangerous now, in that they're more organized and believe they have a cause, to defend Irish culture and housing rights. I'd also propose we need impartial public education measures on immigration. However you feel on the issue, I don't think any serious, reasonable political figure sees immigration as a simple issue, yet that's a big part of the narrative these groups are thriving on.

*Edit: To clarify, I'm not suggesting we try to limit the far-rights political freedoms. But I think that's how bringing in hate speech etc will be portrayed. From what I see these groups are very good at playing to a victim role. It's a tricky one because if a political message is inherently racist, how do you then tackle the harm the racist message does while not being accused of trying to silence this group.

I also realise I should have added a generic 'No' reponse in my poll. I can't edit, but if a mod could add it I'd really appreciate it.

Trying to suppress attitudes only pushes them underground.

I'm a foreigner who doesn't look foreign: people frequently forget I'm foreign and so I've heard the "nicest" of people say some quite incredible things, that they wouldn't have said to the face of someone they recognised as foreign. I've also heard them say even worse thing about Travellers. Not sure that law changes will fix either of these.

They hang themselves with their own rope every time they speak. Leave them to it I say!