Rioting by Muslim youths in Paris is unlikely to be repeated here despite the fact that not all Muslims have integrated positively into Irish society, a popular moderate Islamic preacher, Amr Khaled, has said.
Mr Khaled visited Ireland over the weekend and gave a talk on religious extremism to 50 students at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin on Saturday. He also gave a talk entitled Muslims and Positive Integration at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in Clonskeagh, Dublin.
Mr Khaled said that the failure of some Muslims to integrate was not because Irish society was exclusive, but because some Muslims were not open to integration.
However, Mr Khaled did not think riots like those in Paris would ever occur here.
"No, there is not enough positive integration [ in Ireland]. The problem actually to be honest is not with Western society, the problem is with the Muslims. They come and take a good education but what do they give? Don't stay in this society if you do not want to give and to integrate.
"I don't think anything like the riots in Paris could happen here. First of all, the Muslims here in Ireland have many rights and the Government and the people are different . . . Because Ireland suffered a lot and has had many troubles in the past and because people from Ireland have also emigrated a lot, I don't think this could happen, " he said.
Mr Khaled launched a drugs-awareness training programme at the Islamic cultural centre.
Some 40 members of the Muslim community in Ireland attended the training as did gardaí and community workers.
Mr Khaled said extremism existed both in the Middle East and in the Western world.
"There is extremism in the Middle East and the Western world. Both of them want to take the world for conflict, for a big war. We must, the realistic people, stop them through co-existence."
Extremists in the West, he said, were "anyone who wants to take the world to war without talking to the other side".
Mr Khaled, who promotes Islam as a religion of peace is originally from Cairo in Egypt. He is currently living in Britain.
He said his main work was "bridge-building between East and West" as "the majority of Arabs and Muslims support peace". Through his charity Right-Start Foundation he works with the British government on its efforts to improve relations with young Muslims.