Posted by Speaking in council meeting, he said: “Not even an animal does these kind of things. It is very shameful and they should get public punishment.
‘I’d like to see them shot in the head or bring the public in and beat them until they die.”
BLACK FRIGHT DAY
Black Friday fears for capital in wake of Dublin riots confirmed as action demanded over Elon Musk ‘hates Irish’ slur
Fresh data released today shows how business were hit hard by the violence
RIOT in the heart of Dublin saw the number of Black Friday shoppers plunge as people steered clear of the city centre.
Fresh data released today shows how business were hit hard by the violence on what should have been one of the busiest days of the year – Black Friday.
On Black Friday – the day after the riot – in-person card spending in the city centre was down 46 per cent compared to the same day last year.
On Saturday and Sunday, spending remained down 27 per cent as people continued to avoid the city centre.
CEO of Bank of Ireland Retail Ireland Susan Russell said: “This violence hurt Dublin. It was bad for everyone who lives, works, studies, visits, and does business in the city.”r of the city centreThe bleak news came as the fallout from the trouble continued to have an impact on political life.
Today there was a call for Government departments to pull advertising from X, formerly Twitter, over Elon Musk’s claim that the Taoiseach “hates Irish people,” in the wake of the riots.
And Justice Minister Helen McEntee is demanding a meeting with officials from X as she believes the company’s decision not to take down certain content fuelled some of the violence in Dublin last week.
To add to it all, a Fianna Fail councillor faces reprimand for calling for rioters to be “shot in the head” and Sinn Fein is plotting a motion of no confidence in the Justice Minister.
Mary Lou McDonald’s party will hold a meeting tomorrow morning to decide whether or not to try oust Justice Minister Helen McEntee from her post with a Dail vote.
Sinn Fein have been demanding that the Taoiseach sack the Justice Minister following the shocking scenes in the Capital last week where a riotous mob looted and burnt part of the city following a shocking stabbing outside a school.
If they decide to push ahead with the no confidence motion against Minister McEntee, it is likely that the debate and vote will take place in the Dail next week.
The Coalition should easily defeat any motion of no confidence as they have a majority in the Dail and also enjoy the support of several independent TDs who have already given their backing to Minister McEntee.
The Fine Gael TD today said she believes she has the full support of her party and the Government should any no confidence motion arise.
Asked directly whether Dublin city centre will be safe to visit over the coming weeks, Minister McEntee said: “I think people need to know that there is a strong garda presence in our capital city, that they are safe to come in to our capital city, that there will remain a strong garda presence in our capital city.
“It was not safe last Thursday, clearly, but I want people to know that we have for the most part a safe city.
‘STRONG GARDA PRESENCE’
“I understand that there are many people who don’t feel safe and that’s why that strong garda presence that visibility not just of frontline gardai but of public order units will be on our streets not just up to but during Christmas.
“That presence will remain not just those who are visiting but for people who are going about their daily lives working and of course those who are coming from abroad as well.”
It comes as a Government Senator is calling on all State Departments to pull their advertising from social media platform X due to comments made by the platform’s owner Elon Musk.
Controversial billionaire Musk has attacked the Taoiseach and the Irish government in a series of posts on his social media channel in the wake of the riots.
In messages to his 164 million followers, the X owner has repeatedly targeted the Government’s proposed legislation on hate speech.
In the aftermath of the Dublin riots, the Taoiseach has committed to modernising laws against the incitement of hatred online.
The law proposes to criminalise any intentional communication or behaviour that is likely to incite violence or hatred against a person due to their race, religion or sexual orientation.
‘HATES IRISH PEOPLE’
In one message responding to a post about the hate speech laws, Elon Musk said: “Ironically, the Irish PM hates the Irish people.”
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has also told the Dail that X did not help gardai to take down misinformation and hate speech that was posted on social media in the aftermath of the shocking school stabbing – while others such as Meta did assist gardai.
The Minister is now demanding a meeting with X to discuss why they did not help take down content which she believes fuelled some of the violence in Dublin.
She said: “I will be seeking to meet with X myself because I think the company have a responsibility to be responsible and where they did not take down content on Thursday has added to and I think fuelled some of what happened.
“So I would like to engage with them about what they plan to do going forward.”
Fianna Fail Senator Malcolm Byrne is now calling on all Government departments to stop spending Irish taxpayer cash on advertising on Musk’s X social media platform.
The Government spent around €1.4 million on advertising on social media websites last year including more than €140,000 on Twitter – now known as X.
TWITTER AD SPENDING
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s former Department of Enterprise was actually the Government’s biggest spender on Twitter advertising last year with €35,288.
Senator Byrne said: “It is still the case that some Government departments and public bodies are running paid advertising campaigns on X.
“Musk’s comments are more than enough reason to now cancel these campaigns.
“The public can be effectively communicated with through social media channels that are not owned by somebody who makes comments that incite hatred and negatively impact Ireland’s reputation.”
Separately, Fianna Fail councillor Azad Talukder has been pulled up by his party over comments he made about wanting to see rioters “shot in the head.”
Speaking in council meeting, he said: “Not even an animal does these kind of things. It is very shameful and they should get public punishment.
‘I’d like to see them shot in the head or bring the public in and beat them until they die.”
‘COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE’
The Councillor immediately withdrew the comments after he was criticised by the Labour Party’s Conor Sheehan.
Who Watches the Watchers? 