A Limerick politician has called for the killing of participants in the November 23 Dublin riots. Abul Kalam Azad Talukder—celebrated as Limerick’s first-ever Muslim city councillor upon his election earlier this year—stated he wished to see the rioters shot in the head or beaten to death following last week’s violence, sparked by the stabbing of several children and a teaching assistant by a naturalised Algerian immigrant.
A member of the supposedly conservative party Fianna Fáil, his remarks from November 27th were reported by the Limerick Post. Talukder stated:
I strongly believe that this is not the face of Ireland. This is just some criminals looting the shops. I don’t think they follow any ideological purpose. They come to the streets and just rob. They should get punishment.
Not even an animal does these kind of thing [sic]. It is very shameful and they should get public punishment.
I’d like to see them shot in the head or bring the public in and beat them until they die.
The call for the murder of the rioters was immediately countered by Labour councillor Conor Sheehan, who asked Talukder to withdraw his remarks, explaining that calling for the murder of people was forbidden in the council chamber.
“Okay, I can withdraw that. I just put my emotion only. I hope Conor Sheehan understands that is only an expression of my emotion,” Talukder said.
Despite the fact that Talukder was calling for mass killing, the Limerick Post chose to describe his support for murder as merely a “hard-line” on the Dublin riots.
It seems unlikely that Talukder will face any consequences for his call to murder, despite a petition launched to have him removed from office garnering over a thousand signatures.
Fianna Fáil Minister of State Jack Chambers commented on Talukder’s remarks on Thursday, November 30th saying that the comments were “totally inappropriate” but only stated “the party will engage him on his remarks,” indicating the politician may get a polite talking to but little else.
Contrast the councillor’s remarks and the reaction to them to those of mixed martial arts superstar and former UFC world champion Conor McGregor, who was placed under investigation for hate speech after criticising the Irish government.
While McGregor’s comments were harshly critical of the government led by supposed conservative Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, at no point did the former world champion advocate any violence, much less call for the murder of anyone.
McGregor even condemned the riots on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying:
I do not condone last nights [sic] riots. I do not condone any attacks on our first responders in their line of duty. I do not condone looting and the damaging of shops. Last nights [sic] scenes achieved nothing toward fixing the issues we face.
I do understand frustrations however, and I do understand a move must be made to ensure the change we need is ushered in. And fast! I am in the process of arranging. Believe me I am way more tactical and I have backing.
There will be change in Ireland, mark my words. The change needed. In the last month, innocent children stabbed leaving school. Ashling Murphy murdered. Two Sligo men decapitated. This is NOT Ireland’s future! If they do not act soon with their plan of action to ensure Ireland’s safety, I will.
Immediately after the riots, which largely involved native-born Irish youths, the government pushed the narrative that ‘far-right’ forces were behind the violence.
This coincides with new draconian hate speech legislation that could see people jailed for up to two years for simply having an offensive meme on their phone and up to five years in prison for distributing material viewed as inciting hatred against people with “protected characteristics” such as race, gender or religious belief.
If a person accused of having offensive memes on their phone refuses to give up their password, they could additionally face up to a year in prison and a €5,000 fine.
The legislation was pushed by Leo Varadkar following the riots, with the Irish leader saying, “It’s now obvious to anyone who might have doubted it that our incitement to hatred legislation is just not up to date for the social media age.”
Varadkar, who also comes from a migrant background, added, “We’re a country of migrants. We’ve gone all over the world as a people.”
“Our public services wouldn’t operate without migration. There’d be nobody to look after the sick or to care for the old, certainly not enough people,” he said.
Across the Irish border in British Northern Ireland, the situation for the Irish does not appear much better as authorities there announced this week they would be investigating a hate crime after someone wrote “Irish Lives Matter” on a wall in West Belfast.
Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey—a member of the political wing of the IRA—called the sign “disgraceful” saying, “Political and community leaders must stand together to continue building a safe, welcoming and inclusive society for all.”
In recent years, Sinn Féin has largely abandoned the notion of being a party for the Irish and has embraced multiculturalism and mass migration despite the latter, in particular, being deeply unpopular with the Irish public.
