Dean Kavanagh

It’s one year on since the Dublin Riots. I still remember how so many carried themselves that night and still fear that they’re still among us. Even the week after when some crotchety loser start hassling my partner and daughter “are ye fooken ukranzians?”. That night, I had to leave my daughter aline at home. The things I saw still make me sick. Some loser on Patrick Street trying to creep up on a Spanish speaking couple. Of course as soon as I shouted at him the coward sped off at speed. Bigots are not good when the numbers are even fractionally against them. Then there’s certain “media” outlets that did their best to trigger it. They’ve never had to account for their role in it. On the plus side, it showed up the ugliness that permeates the city and the beauty that’s in it too. The way bystanders dealt with the attacker in Parnell Square is the Dublin I know. Many of the political parties have Dublin plans in their manifestos which is positive but what we’re really missing is an analysis of who was involved and how they got their in their lives. How do we get those lost to that type of thinking back into normality? A question for every country but in a time when we have this section collaborating with loyalist terrorists and other miscreants and with Americans mainstreaming bigotry and irrationality, we need to mover faster on it.