DCC passes motion to protect libraries from far-right protestors

Dublin City Council has passed a motion to support libraries that provide LGBTQ+ literature and protect them from intimidation by far-right protestors.

The motion, put down by Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon at this month’s Council meeting, said the motion was to counter far-right protests against libraries following similar protests in Cork.

Initially introduced in April, the motion was brought into sharper focus following last month’s riots in the city centre, and the discussion of the far-right within Irish society.

Pidgeon expressed fear that similar protests would happen in Dublin, and while acknowledging that the motion was symbolic, he said it was a matter of principle that inspired him to put down the motion.

“A lot of far-right activists started targeting libraries because they were stocking material around LGBTQ+ people and their lives and experience – they claimed that basically any reference or mention to anyone who was gay or who had a sexuality that was different or perceived as different was somehow pornography.”

“You can see why the far-right went after libraries; they are everything they are not. They are quiet places, thoughtful, communal, inclusive, for everyone, and the far-right is hyper-individualistic, super-aggressive, thoughtless, loud, you can see why they go after it.”

Pidgeon said that at some point, library workers in Dublin will come under pressure to change the content they provide, and he said that the aim of the motion was to remind members of the LGBTQ+ community “you’re normal, you’re healthy, you’re welcome in our community.”

“It’s a bit of a two fingers to the far-right who try and individualise us and separate us from the good things that libraries in particular provide.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Larry O’Toole said he “fully” supported this motion, and said that “even if it’s a symbolic thing, it’s very important.”

“What has happened in libraries over the last few months – people going into libraries and attacking workers or people using the libraries – is despicable stuff.”

He said that far-right activity at libraries is a “warning sign” of their behaviour.

O’Toole’s Sinn Féin colleague Mícheál Mac Donncha said that Dublin has a “proud history” of public libraries, noting that some of the world’s oldest libraries are based in Dublin.

Mac Donncha said he discussed the issue with Cork Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould who took part in a counter-protest over the summer.

“He told me there were only two things that had caused the library to close in the history of Cork – the Black and Tans and the far-right. We need to reinforce the right to read, and the benefits that libraries bring,” Mac Donncha said.

Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll noted that Dublin is a UNESCO city of literature and that as a community, Dublin needs to support their libraries, as well as the people who work in them.

“There has been small instances of intimidation at some of our libraries and that’s something we need to stamp out,” she said.

Independent Councillor Cieran Perry said “we need to remind people that the racist right and the far-right are anti-education. They have nothing to contribute to decent society.”

Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney “these people are fueling fear and hate.”

They are spreading falsehoods and fears, and preying on people’s fears that something is going to happen to their children. The education surrounding this topic in libraries is age-appropriate.”

Former Lord Mayor Hazel Chu, who has been vocal about harassment she has suffered at the hands of the far-right since her election in 2019, commended her Green Party colleague’s motion.

She noted that the motion was initially submitted in April, but the issue has become “so much worse since then.”

“I found myself looking at this motion and thinking it’s gotten to the stage where it’s gotten so much worse and our city has been burnt by various far-right agitators.”

“Somehow, there are corners of the city and country that question whether the far-right are real or not. They are nationalist extremists and this is something we need to push on.”

Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam said “some of the best staff in Dublin City Council are to be found in our libraries. Libraries should not be a place where protests take place, as they are a cradle of learning. They are a place to develop empathy and develop knowledge.”

McAdam expressed concern that libraries are becoming a “frontier” in the culture wars that we are not only seeing in Ireland, but across the world, but expressed Fine Gael’s full support for library workers.

McAdam’s Fine Gael colleague James Geoghegan said “it beggars belief in 2023 that we are dealing with neanderthals harassing librarians about information that’s in a book.”

“Somehow they view information or stories about people in LGBTQ+ communities as a danger to them. It’s the biggest load of rubbish.”

“The irony is that they are supposedly acting as the warriors against misinformation when they are platformed on social media, filled with utter nonsense and conspiracy theories”

Councillor Pat Dunne was more forthright in his summation of the issue.

The Independents4Change Councillor remarked “the people who want to ban a book are the same people who want to burn the book. Where have we seen that before? We saw it in Italy under Mussolini, we saw it in Spain, and we saw it in Germany with Hitler, and we are seeing it in Russia now with Putin banning the LGBT movement.”

“The far-right is a term that’s been thrown around without people not necessarily knowing what it means, but I’ll spell out what I think it means – the far-right are fascists, they’re racists, they’re homophobic, they’re conspiracy theorists. And where did we hear that before? We heard that in history back in the 1930s.”

He said that Dublin City Council has a duty to pass motions like Pidgeon’s, which he says will play a part in the far-right from ever becoming a movement in Ireland.

“They’re calling for the banning of books, but they aren’t calling for the banning of social media, because that is their forum where they can spread their hate and lies.”