Ireland: The rise and human cost of the anti-migrant movement

Ireland’s Taoiseach has used a speech to the Irish diaspora in the US, to highlight that St Patrick – who is celebrated every March 17th – was a ‘single, male, undocumented migrant’. Immigration protests have become a major thorn in Leo Varadker’s side, dominating politics in cities, towns and villages.

Much of the anger is linked to the struggle for housing, in a country where rent and property prices are among the highest in Europe. But there are fears that parts of the anti-migrant movement are being infiltrated by social media influencers, who are inflaming tensions further.