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Notorious cage fighter Conor McGregor for Irish PM? It might be more possible than you think.
After the worst rioting independent Ireland has seen since the dawn of the 21st century, Ireland's mainstream has declared war on populism. Blaming the violence on a nebulous "far-right", politicians have promised a tightening of hate speech laws and an expansion of mass surveillance in the hopes of curbing future violence.
Such an approach has only enflamed tensions, with many accusing politicians of trying to deflect from the problems caused by mass migration.
McGregor has become an unlikely champion of this movement. The UFC fighter is now regularly hitting out at the government on social media, telling his followers that Ireland is now "at war".
He is now reportedly under investigation for "hate speech", The Times reports.
The fighter is far from the only big name putting pressure on the government. Ireland's mass migration debate has well and truly gone international.
Elon Musk has proven a particular headache for the government. Since attacking the country's newly proposed hate speech laws banning offensive memes earlier this year, the tech billionaire is now regularly wading into Irish political issues.
Musk has seemingly developed a particular distaste for Ireland's Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, whom the X owner claims "hates the Irish people".
Ireland's elite has responded poorly to their newfound fame, blaming much of the criticisms against them on "disinformation" and "hate". The lack of engagement on the issue is worrying for Irish democracy considering the island's history of political violence (read more here).
In lighter news, our expert on the Netherlands, Carl Deconinck, was on TalkTV on Sunday to discuss Geert Wilders' election win. You can read about that here.
Peter Caddle |
Ralph Schoellhammer
