CONTROVERSIAL right-wing historian David Irving has been invited to participate in a debate on free speech at University College Cork (UCC) next month, nine years after he was forced to cancel a lecture there because of protests.
Auditor of the UCC Philosophical Society Ross Frenett confirmed it had invited Mr Irving to the debate provisionally fixed for March 10th. Mr Irving will speak in favour of the motion: "That this house believes free speech should be free from restraint". The society would not be confirming a venue for security reasons.
Mr Frenett said the society had received a number of general threats and abusive messages since it became known Mr Irving had been invited to speak. It had been in contact with the college authorities and the Garda regarding security for the visit.
The society had invited Mr Irving to UCC in November 1999 but the lecture was cancelled because of Garda safety fears. Some 600 protesters gathered outside the science building where Mr Irving was to deliver a lecture, Myths of the Second World War, and scuffles broke out with gardaí before reinforcements were called in.
The incident led to the removal of college facilities and privileges from Young Sinn Féin, the Socialist Party, the Socialist Society and the Socialist Worker Society, which had all been involved in the protest.
Mr Irving (69) gained notoriety as a Holocaust denier. According to Indymedia, a "Stop Irving Campaign" has already been formed by socialists, anarchists and trade unionists "to mobilise a mass demonstration" .