A Sinn Féin TD has warned that Tommy Robinson is not welcome amid fears that the far-right agitator could further inflame anti-immigration protests in Ireland.
Robinson - whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - is understood to be in Dublin to make a documentary about a surge of anti-immigration protests.
In the Dáil on Thursday evening, it was suggested that Robinson also intends on travelling to Cork.
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During statements in the Dáil on the international protection system, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North-Central Thomas Gould said that all Robinson “cares about is spreading his disgusting hate”.
He said: “There are rumours that a prominent English fascist will visit Cork in the coming days.
“I am sending out a clear message as a Deputy for Cork North-Central and a proud Corkman, that there is no place on the streets for this man or for anyone who holds his beliefs.
“Do not allow him to fool you. He once said, ‘I've never felt a connection to Ireland or felt Irish’.
“He has supported soldiers who murdered innocent Irish men and women on the streets on Bloody Sunday.
“He does not care about our communities. He does not care about Ireland.
“He cares about spreading his disgusting hate. We are better than that. We should be fighting for a new Government that puts people and communities first.
“We should be fighting against those who want to divide us. Instead, we want to fight against those who would stop change.”
In a message on Telegram, Mr Robinson told his followers that he was travelling to Ireland as a “journalist”. He also said that he had travelled here on his Irish passport.
During Dáil statements on international protection, Justice Minister Simon Harris said that Ireland “cannot allow the mistruths and the lies of the far right to take hold”.
“They thrive on this misinformation and they travel from county to county, community to community spreading these untruths to create division and fear.
“It is essential that the House continues to have these conversations and debates so we do not allow these mistruths spread.”
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, meanwhile, criticised People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd-Barrett and Brid Smith over their contributions to the debate.
He accused Mr Boyd-Barrett for “conflating real social problems with xenophobia and racism”.
The Dun Laoghaire TD said: “On Saturday we are calling on people not to fall for the poison and tricks of the far right which seek to deflect people away from a real struggle that needs to happen, which is a struggle for unity and solidarity of working people to demand that the Government solve the housing and accommodation crisis, the crisis in our public health service, the crisis of the cost of living and the poverty that many communities suffer.”
Minister Donnelly said that Mr Boyd-Barrett had told people not to “fall for the tricks of the far right and then he laid out tricks of the far left”.
He explained: “He said we should not conflate real social problems that everyone in this House cares about with xenophobia and racism. He then spent his entire speech conflating those two things.
“I have the height of respect for Deputy Boyd Barrett and always have. He has essentially presented the march on Saturday as a march against racism, which I agree with.
“But he then conflated it by saying let us use it to attack the Government on issues relating to housing, which are very real but which are fundamentally different things.”
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