As I stood amid the chaos in Dublin – riot police with shields to my right, and firework-hurling protesters to my left – one realisation struck me. For all its divisiveness, the issue of immigration is uniting a once-silent majority across the world. I’ve witnessed countless anti-immigration protests in the UK, from the Bell Hotel in Epping to the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf and I’ve spoken with residents up and down the country.
But the scenes in Dublin on Wednesday night made even the loudest demonstrations in England seem almost tame. Fireworks exploded over the heads of riot police as they surged forward into the crowds. Wooden planks were torn from fences and hurled into the sky. Stones ripped from the ground clattered off police shields. It was far from peaceful, yet beneath the violence was the same familiar anger and frustration that has been simmering across Europe.
That tension has grown as nations struggle with the consequences of their own open-border policies, and the numbers are reaching record-highs. In the UK, over 36,000 illegal migrants have arrived so far this year – 10,000 more than during the same period last year. Ireland recorded its highest-ever number of asylum applications in 2024, with 18,651 claims – up 5,000 from the previous year.
Most applicants came from Nigeria, Jordan, and Pakistan, while those with the highest success rates were from Sri Lanka and Guinea.
Not long ago, immigration was a taboo topic. In 2010, Nigel Farage was branded a far-right racist for calling for lower immigration; today, he leads the most popular political party in the country.
The once-silent majority – ordinary, working-class people who once kept their concerns to themselves – are no longer silent. In Dublin, they took to the streets, their anger erupting into violence that I cannot condone but also cannot be ignored.
Every time a young girl or woman is alleged to have been attacked by an asylum seeker, another protest erupts. People feel unheard, dismissed, and betrayed by governments that continue to promise control while borders remain porous.
Unless those in power take decisive action to address illegal migration, what unfolded in Dublin may not be an isolated incident, but a warning of what’s yet to come.