Gardaí are aware of the arrival of far-right, anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson in Dublin to “document” anti-immigration protests.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is a convicted criminal and one of the UK’s most prominent far-right activists. It is understood he has been in regular contact with Irish anti-immigrant activists in recent weeks, leading to his decision to travel to Dublin on Wednesday.
Security sources said gardaí are aware of Robinson’s presence in Dublin and described concerns his activities will further inflame the immigration issue here, including possibly provoking further violence. Gardaí are to “discreetly” monitor his presence here, a source said.
There have been several violent incidents linked to anti-immigration protests in recent weeks, including the arson of a Dublin building which was falsely believed to be earmarked for asylum seekers and an attack on a camp used by immigrants in Ashtown, Dublin.
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Most recently, a man was arrested on Wednesday night after allegedly driving into anti-immigration protesters in north inner city Dublin, injuring one. He is due before the courts.
“Gardaí and people in the community have been trying to lower the temperature around these protests. [Robinson’s] arrival has the potential to reverse those efforts,” a garda source said.
Robinson, who now calls himself a journalist, said he is in Ireland to make a documentary about the protests. He said he has not been invited to Ireland and is “not being accommodated by anyone.”
His decision to come to Ireland has been welcomed by various Irish anti-immigration campaigners.
Far right activist Dee Wall, who has led several protests in Dublin in recent weeks, said she would welcome him to Ireland and that she would have him as a son.
Prominent Cork anti-immigration campaigner Derek Blighe said Robinson “wants to protect his country in the same way I want to protect my country”.
“If Tommy Robinson wants to come over here and learn some new tricks and get some footage, maybe make a documentary, I have no problem with that,” he said.
However the welcome has not been universal. Some far-right social media accounts criticised Robinson’s support for northern loyalists and British soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday massacre.
Others claimed he is a “plant” designed to discredit the Irish anti-immigration movement.
Irish anti-immigration campaigners have been forging increasing close links with their British counterparts in recent months, including sharing tactics and protest strategies. In particular, they have been in extensive contact with members of the white nationalist group Patriotic Alternative.
Robinson, whose criminal convictions include assaulting an off-duty police officer, stalking, fraud and drug possession, has served multiple prison sentences. In 2013 he was jailed for attempting to use a false passport to enter the US.
He was a founder of the Islamophobic English Defence League and a former member of the British National Party and various other groups with fascist or white nationalist links.
Over the years, he has raised millions of pounds in donations from followers. In 2021 he declared bankruptcy after losing a costly defamation case resulting from him falsely accusing a refugee schoolboy of attacking a girl.
