Pegida Ireland

Pegida Ireland
Leader	Peter O’Loughlin[1]
Founded	6 February 2016 (6 February 2016)
Ideology	Right-wing populism Anti-Islamisation
Political position	Right-wing
Affiliation	Fortress Europe[1]
Website
www.facebook.com/PegidaIrelandofficial

Pegida Ireland is the Irish branch^[1] of the German-based movement Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes; Pegida), a far-right, anti-Islamic political movement.

Launch

It had planned to have its inaugural rally on 6 February 2016, during which Identity Ireland's Peter O’Loughlin, who is also leader of Pegida Ireland, was to speak. Whilst on his way to the rally on a Luas tram, he and members of the movement were attacked by a group of men wearing black masks. While Leo Varadkar condemned the attack, he also expressed concern at the establishment of the group in Ireland.^[2][3]

In a separate incident, a group of Pegida supporters was chased into a store by a group of protesters who broke away from the main demo.^[4] Green Party councillor, Ciarán Cuffe, condemned the "ugly scenes" of violence against counter-demonstrators by Gardaí. Hundreds participated in the counter-demonstration, which included support from Anti-Racism Network, Dublin Calais Refugee Solidarity group, Irish Refugee Council, European Network Against Racism, Muslim Organisations, Africa Centre, Dublin Housing Network, Republican Sinn Féin, Anti-Austerity Alliance, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, the Workers' Party and the Workers Solidarity Movement.^[5][1]

Ireland became the 15th country with an established Pegida presence.^[3]

References