Three years ago Aisling Golden was attending a conference in Sweden on the grooming of young people into violence and criminality. However, she paid little attention in the second half, which addressed teenagers being groomed into far-right and anti-immigrant violence. Garda sources said in some cases young people were being actively groomed by criminals to carry out anti-immigrant violence such as that seen recently in Citywest in Saggart, west Dublin, where there were riots in October. Becoming involved in the anti-immigrant movement gives young people “position, power and status which they do not usually have in their lives”, she said. When teenagers post their own anti-immigrant content, they are called “heroes” and “patriots”, giving them a status they never had before, said Golden.

Source: The Irish Times December 06, 2025 15:01 UTC