The Workers’ Party condemns the anti-mask and anti-lockdown protest, organised by elements of the far-right, which took place in Dublin yesterday.

In holding the demonstration, the organisers knowingly jeopardised public health in the name of garnering political support. They also invited a group of anti-maskers from the continent, further risking the spread of COVID-19 both at home and abroad.

Though it is worth noting that not every single attendee was a hardcore conspiracy theorist, racist or fascist, and that many have simply bought into far-right spin on the failures of the government, the organisers themselves undoubtedly hold such an agenda.

A small group attending the protest were pictured wearing masks (presumably for their own anonymity rather than health), armed with batons and are reported to have attacked on counter-protesters. This is an alarming development showing that the Irish far-right are becoming increasingly confident and bolshy.

Far-right politics have nothing positive to offer to workers, they offer only to divide and weaken us as a class. Ultimately, their scapegoating benefits the ruling class which they claim to oppose.