In the wake of the highly successful Dublin protest on the 26th April, two more protests took place in Ulster, in Carrickmacross, Monaghan and Letterkenny, Donegal. The momentum of the Nationalist protest movement is holding steady, and another more protests look soon to follow.

The protests in both Ulster towns had a march, music, singing, and speeches, as well as the now ubiquitous presence of the Tricolour. There were so many speakers present at both events that it wouldn’t be feasible to transcribe the full content of every speech. 

Carrickmacross

The protest at Carrickmacross was called in response to footage of a foreign national on the streets of the town brandishing a large knife and aggressively taunting motorists. Conor McGregor weighed in on the footage, noting that the notorious asylum slumlord Banty McEnaney is connected to the town.

Locals assembled at an improvised platform on Rockdaniel Road, with a microphone and speakers set up. People were encouraged to step forward and make their views known.

The first was Paul, a retired soldier.

On the slum landlords:

‘The slum landlords: I thought we only had two but I found out recently we have three. They are making vast, obscene amounts of money with this racket and it’s absolutely ridiculous. They’re destroying the communities, they’re destroying the fabric of the town, they don’t care, they’re laughing at youse. The big mansion out the road and the flash cars is enough to show anybody. They. Do. Not. Care. I hope and I pray that every generation of every one of those people that bears their name is forever tarnished for the traitorous acts they’re doing today.’

On the Dublin protest:

‘We went to the protest in Dublin on Saturday, 16 of us went, on the bus, and a few more went on other buses, and we walked from Parnell Street to the GPO. And for all the staunch Sinn Féin supporters out there, bad news for you. They are no good for us, and I’ll tell you why right now. When we walked down by the GPO, Dáithí Doolin, Sinn Féin TD, along with another Sinn Féin TD, along with councillors from Sinn Féin, were there holding their wee placards: “Sinn Féin stands against racism”. So I’m a retired soldier, walking down my own capital city, with my flag, being called a racist by Sinn Féin. To the right of them was the poster boy for the loony left Paul Murphy, Ruth Coppinger, and all their little minions, standing behind with a little sign going: “The only good Nazi is a dead Nazi”. So now I’m a Nazi and I’m a racist. So you go to the left, and the NGO minions, with the cast of Fraggle Rock, calling me a Fascist? So was I annoyed? Was I hell! I just laughed at them, because they’re a joke.’

On the movement:

‘I was listening to Sharon Keoghan in the Seanad and she said there’s a national movement growing in Ireland, and this is it. This is the national movement that’s growing in Ireland. She said they’re talking about it in the bars, the taxis, the shops, the streets, everywhere barring the Seanad, the Dáil, and RTÉ. So what does that tell you? We’re not getting the publicity, we’re doing our own publicity here. So the movement is started, do not let it wane. We have to keep pushing this.’

Next Cllr. Seamus Treanor stepped up to speak.

On housing:

‘I want to get one thing straight here: the reason we have a housing problem in this country is because our government opened our borders and invited the whole third world to come in here, all speaking all different languages, they came in their tens of thousands to communities like Carrickmacross who are suffering the consequences. The so-called opposition are in step with the government and agree with their policy.’

‘Our young people cannot afford housing and we are forced to compete against greedy vulture landlords who are making millions from taxpayers to house refugees and illegal immigrants who are scamming the asylum system. These vulture landlords are no better, are no better, than the English landlords we had during the Famine.’

On anti-social behaviour:

‘When a large number of third-world immigrants from different cultures and backgrounds are placed in small communities like Carrickmacross there’s a risk of anti-social behaviour and residents no longer feel safe in their own town. This is happening in towns all over Ireland and our government backed by a woke media and opposition think they can get away with it. We need to send a strong message out to our elected representatives that enough is enough, the people of Carrickmacross want their town back, IPAS centres need to be closed down and deportation orders fast-tracked. There is a need for zero-tolerance for anti-social behaviour and I encourage the Garda to send a strong message that this will not be tolerated.’

On Easter 1916:

‘Last Saturday was the 26th of April, and 109 years ago and two days, in 1916 Irish men and Irish women marched into the GPO to try to win Ireland back for the Irish. And to think that last Saturday we had people who call themselves Republicans, who march through Carrickmacross town, and Monaghan towns, with Tricolours, read proclamations at gravesides, you name it , and where were they standing? With the bought, globalist, woke media, it’s a bloody disgrace. Hang your heads.’

‘There was a great song one time, it was called Only Our Rivers Run Free, and there’s a bit I often think about in it, it’s supposed to refer to Republicans, and it says “Where are you now when we need you?” and we seen where they were last Saturday: standing against the people.’

After Cllr. Treanor, a woman named Jenny, who had also been at the Dublin protest, got up to speak:

‘Carrickmacross, one of many rural towns, has become overwhelmed, it has become a shadow of its former self. Unsettling incidences with increased frequency are occurring not just in recent weeks but in recent years, this has snowballed over that period of time. We are all rightfully fearful of this, not just for ourselves but for the generations to come.

‘To the greedy corrupt landlords, slum millionaires, we see you, we condemn your immoral growing businesses, because they are growing. Cramming people into your accommodations with battering rams, continuously and shamelessly lining your pockets with dirty money, made at the expense of Ireland and its people, not caring about the repercussions of your actions in any shape or form.’

‘Name them! Name them!’ came from the crowd.

‘We the people, pay your many taxes. We the people, pay your high salaries. We deserve better; we deserve a better government. Get them out!’

After the speeches a girl was brought up who sang The Foggy Dew. And then the protesters marched peacefully through the town without opposition. They moved along Donaghmoyne Rd and up Farney St towards the centre of the town, and then marched down Monaghan St and chanted ‘Get them out!’ About 1000 people or 20% of Carrickmacross’ population are estimated to have been present.

One common refrain from the speeches was that the town was no longer a safe place like it had been in the past, and the footage that went viral from the town spoke to these concerns.

Another thing worth noting was that a number of the speakers had been to the protest in Dublin on the 26th April. What started initially as localised demonstrations and blockades against top-down imposed plantations of foreigners in small communities, where oftentimes it was unwanted for ‘outsiders’ or ‘blow-ins’ who were Irish to be present, has now evolved into a fully national consciousness; an understanding that what is taking place in these small communities is a fully national problem, and that Irish people need to stand together against the government.

Letterkenny

The protest in Letterkenny was called due to a series of highly publicised criminal acts having taken place in the town, topped off by a reported attack in which a local man was attacked by foreign nationals who claimed, ‘This is our town now!’ The victim was hospitalised. The father of the victim, Tony McDaid, said ‘there’s tension in the town.  A lot of people, especially women, don’t feel safe walking the town any more. Both ends of the town are now full of foreign nationals, and they spend a lot of time hanging around the town. It’s a real cause of worry for local people, and it’s a big topic of discussion.’

The protest assembled at the Port Road and moved along towards McGettigan’s Hotel, which, according to the protest organisers, is an IPAS centre. After the organisers gave a brief speech on a megaphone, they set off again with We’re on the One Road by the Wolfe Tones playing as they marched past St. Eunan’s Cathedral and down Castle St towards Market Square, where the small crowd of counter-protesters came into view.

The whole crowd, like in Dublin, was a sea of Tricolours thanks to the hard work and expense of Damo and Ivor’s Andy Quirke. The Irish Rover by the Dubliners and the Pogues played out over the speakers as the marchers assembled at Market Square. 

The speeches kicked off with ‘Letterkenny has risen’ and a big cheer from the crowd. 

The organisers stressed that what was happening in Letterkenny is ‘a local issue but it’s also a national issue’, and continued: ‘We cannot let them divide us. Our energy must be directed at the government, not at the people. It’s the government that’s implementing all the legislation, we should all be quite wealthy if we’re paid decent wages but we’re not. We’re here about the migration problem, the mass immigration into this country, which is destroying it, we all know the story.’ In reference to the counter-protesters: ‘I’m going to ignore them back there, they’re not really Irish, they’re anti-Irish.’

A fiery, rousing speech from Dónal of Buncrana:

‘They want us to ignore the poor pay that they’re giving our young people, they’re forcing our young people to emigrate; Australia has some of our young people, England, the USA, this cannot continue, we need a future for our young people in this country, and that is what this is all about. I’m not out here for me, Jim’s not out here for him, we are here for the young people in this county. And they are going to have a future. We will not lie down, ever!’

‘The greedy landlords and the traitors in this country.’ An eruption of boos and hisses. ‘These people need to be ostracised in this community. They shouldn’t get a cup of coffee, they shouldn’t get a drink in the bar, these people need to be brought out as the absolute traitors to this country that they are. [ … ] These people want to absolutely, completely destroy this country, are you gonna let them?‘

At a certain point, the speeches ended, and people were asked to come forward instead to sing. A woman named Jackie from Lawyers for Justice Ireland stepped up first and sang Song for Ireland and We’re on the One Road. Next came Ronán, a powerfully built man, who sang the traditional Irish ballad Spancil Hill, dedicated to his late father. A huge cheer erupted when the song concluded. The mother of Fabio, one of the speakers, then came up and sang as a piper readied his pipes; she rather suitably sang Danny Boy. The piper then played The Dying Swan, a beautiful, slow lament for a swan. Upon finishing, he took the microphone and spoke:

‘When the English were shipping our ancestors to Barbados and the West Indies, who did they send there before they sent any rebels? They stripped the land of the harpers and the pipers and they outlawed them, and they shipped them all the way out to the other side of the world, because the harpers and the pipers and all the musicians were Irish to the very spirits of the men. They were able to calm them down when they needed a rest, able to put the weary to sleep when they needed calming, able to rouse them when they needed roused. That’s why we were stripped, from harpers and pipers and before any rebels were sent to Barbados and the West Indies. Not many people know that, but that’s why. That’s why we were stuck in the shackles in the dirt like dogs for so long. We had everything stolen from us. We’re not getting anything more stolen from us that’s for sure.’

He played another tune on the pipes and was joined by a bodhrán player. ‘No Loyalist supporters here. True Gaels,’ someone said. The song finished and a cheer went up. Jackie was brought back up to read out the list of names of IPAS centres and their owners.

‘Can we have their names? Traitors!’ a woman in the crowd shouted. Jackie read out the list:

‘JMA Ventures, Monaghan, Westside Apartments,

MCT Property, Donegal, Methrow Guesthouse?

Carryduff, Monaghan, Fortwell Apartments,

Brimwood, Monaghan, Nuke Rosemount?,

Brimwood, Monaghan, Rosewood?,

Brimwood, Monaghan, Mount Southwell Market Square,

BC McGettigan, Donegal, Gellihers Hotel,

Rosemount, Market Square, Gallaghers Hotel, MC Megatown, 

ERM Contracts, Monaghan, Fairlee House and McLure’s Terrace,

Michael McGettigan, The Masterclean Building, 

Cross, Donegal, [ inaudible ] Casino Hostel,

Unidentified owners at Gleninney House,

Bridgestop Dublin, Port Road Apartments, 

Reagan, Donegal, Walnut Grove,

Brimwood, Monaghan, Robinson Hall Apartments,

Trans Boyle, Monaghan, Oatlands House,

Oakgate Monaghan, Crackenmore House,

Trans Boyle, Monaghan, Crackenmore House,

Reagan, Donegal, Belvedere Guesthouse,

Country Kitchen, Carnavogie,

Brimwood again, and again,

Brimwood, Kilboy Guesthouse, High Road Apartments.’

(NOTE: It is hard to make out the list of names on our recorded audio and other footage, this list above has been reproduced as closely as possible but the publication makes no claims as to its veracity)

‘Profiteers out! Traitors!’ erupted from the crowd. Damo and Ivor’s Andy Quirke got a big applause for bringing the large number of Tricolour flags.

Overall, Letterkenny seemed to be more organised with a list of pre-arranged speakers, and also beset by a counter-protest. Carrickmacross, on the other hand, seemed more sporadic and had an open mic speech policy, yet had very good turnout and speeches for a small town at short notice. It’s clear that in these towns across Ireland anger is bubbling and rising to the surface.

Both protests were very musical, the live music at Letterkenny, especially pipes and drums, was reminiscent of the Dublin protest which also featured similar instruments, all three protests had singing. The musical tradition of Ireland is alive and well in this protest movement. Ryan the Piper’s impromptu speech was not especially relevant to the issues directly at hand, but everyone was aware of the deep significance that it had, reaching back into Ireland’s history and connecting the musical tradition with the tradition of rebellion. In a way it was almost more relevant than the topical speeches.

At both Carrickmacross and Letterkenny, people expressed their immense anger and frustration with the landlord class. Cllr Seamus Treanor compared them directly to the English landlord class of the famine times, and people were encouraged to name and shame them.

At Letterkenny there was a direct call to bring back the Irish tradition of Boycotting—in its traditional form—to ostracise someone so completely from society that their presence, the presence of their agents, and the presence of their product, is completely impossible.

We would like to thank Phil Dwyer for attending both Carrickmacross and Letterkenny protests and filming, and for making it possible for us to transcribe the speeches after the fact.