Right-wing activists divide Dublin with lamp-post flag blitz

Right-wing activists are lining the streets of Dublin with Irish tricolour flags in a campaign that is dividing communities and fuelling a bitter debate about immigration.

- 

Supporters say the flags, informally attached to lamp posts without permission, are a simple expression of patriotism — and many react furiously to the idea of restricting the flying of the national flag.

Opponents say the flags, which mirror a similar campaign in England, are designed to intimidate and to mark neighbourhoods as being for non-immigrants only.

“I’ve never been embarrassed of the Irish flag, but I think it’s now being used as a flag of hate,” said 52-year-old civil servant Ashley Nelson, whose neighbourhood was one of the first where flags appeared. “This is racism, this is ‘Ireland for the Irish’ it’s disgusting.”

While no group has admitted to raising the flags, far-right activists are their loudest defenders. Some locals sympathetic to the flags voice openly anti-immigrant views.