The far-right claim to be protecting ‘locals’ but last week their sheer hypocrisy was exposed when they staged an unprovoked attack on a 70 year old in Corofin. Here is what happened.
On Sunday 21st May, a road blockade was installed at Corofin, county Clare, controlling access to a property which was believed to have been selected for refugee and international protection accommodation. The purpose behind the blockade was to allow cars driven by local people to pass through but not to allow buses carrying refugees to enter the accommodation. The blockade was organised by the Irish Freedom Party, who had placed a “call for patriots” to recruit misinformed locals to help build and man the blockade.
On the night of Sunday the 21st May, a 70 year old pensioner who lived locally to Corofin attempted to pass the blockade in his car. He was stopped by the people manning the blockade and a torch was shone into his face in intimidation. The pensioner then rolled down his car window to enquire as to what was going on, upon which he was interrogated.
This ultimately escalated to the person holding the torch hitting the pensioner in the face with it. The pensioner was badly injured from this attack and was sent to UHL for treatment where he received stitches to the face to close up the wound. In response, a Garda investigation into the assault was initiated.
On Monday 22nd May, members of People Before Profit attended the counter-demonstration at the blockade at Corofin as part of a refugee welcoming rally which had been organised by the Clare Solidarity Network. At this rally, The People Before Profit members were glad to see that the number of people who were there to welcome the refugees outnumbered the amount of people manning the blockade by two-to-one. The blockade consisted of a handmade “local access only” sign, three vans and a few wooden pallets.
