People must stand together in solidarity if the country is to deal with its growing far-right problem, an Independent senator has said today.
Senator Eileen Flynn said that she is ‘very afraid’ of the growing far-right movement in the country following violent protests in recent weeks.
“I hold great fears for the future if we don’t stand together against hate and division,” she said.
Far-right groups have capitalised on the Covid-19 crisis to grow their movements across Ireland and Europe since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Independent senator said that we need to deal with the problem now – or we will ‘live to regret it’.
“We don’t have to agree on everything,” said Senator Flynn. “We don’t have to agree on economics and social policies but this great threat should unify us as a country and as people.
“There is no place in our country for an agenda that divides us from each other. And this seems to be the aim – to pit neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother, sister against sister.”
The Independent Senator added that the only way to fight this is to stand together against it.
“I know I do not have to remind anyone in this house of our proclamation and our powerful pledge as a nation, to treasure all the children of the nation equally.
“When I was a child, my mother would always say to me blowing out someone else’s candle won’t make yours shine any brighter.
“And she was right – it’s by helping others that will make your candle shine brighter.
“We have seen protests on the streets of our country in recent weeks – that have drawn members of far-right parties, sometimes including speakers from far-right parties.
“We have seen instances of violence on our streets – we have seen our tricolour being used in these violent protests.”
