'God bless Ireland': Conor McGregor attends anti-immigration protest in Dublin city centre
Eva Osborne
MMA fighter Conor McGregor was at Dublin's Garden of Remembrance ahead of an anti-immigration protest in the city centre.
In a video posted to Instagram, McGregor addressed his followers and those taking part in the protest, which kicked off at 2pm on Saturday.
"Hello everyone in Ireland. April 26th, 2025 - A big day here for our country. An historic month for Ireland since 1916," he said.
"Over 100 years ago, our brave men and women made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live free today. So let us remind ourselves why we are here. And also why we are not here.
"We are not here to build hatred amongst eachother. We are not here to sow division. We are here to commemorate the valiant heroes who went before us.
"We honour their spirit, we honour their fight. And we are here today to shine our light on the failure of Ireland's government and our full disapproval of it.
"Be respectful, be proud, be united. Because together, we will be heard, and as one, we will be victorious in our mission. To those leading their march and speaking for the tens of thousands standing behind you: be calm, be clear.
"Speak with dignity - we want to hear your voice. Together we rise, together we win. God bless us all. God bless Ireland."
Tensions are likely to run high as anti-immigration protestors clash with counter-demonstrators in Dublin city centre.
The protest is expected to be met with counter-demonstrations from various groups advocating for anti-racism and immigrant rights.
These groups include political parties Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, and the Socialist Party, as well as trade unions, tenant unions, and civil society and community groups.
Speaking to the Irish Alliance, protest organiser and Dublin City Councillor Malachy Steenson said: "We are holding a national rally, both to commemorate those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom for centuries past and also as a rally against government policy on housing, health, education, all this diversity nonsense and anything else that this government is currently at. The whole myriad of things that this government is out to destroy the country with.
"So we're calling on anybody who believes this country is being run for the benefit of a very small minority and is not being run for the benefit of our people, they should come along.
"Just to remind people - this is a peaceful protest and rally. This will be men, women, and children, young and old, workers and unemployed, right across the spectrum in this country."
Taking to Instagram, People Before Profit Cllr Darragh Adelaide said: "On the 26th of April, United Against Racism has called a counter protest against a far right, anti-immigration demonstration that is happening in Dublin.
"When these anti-immigration protests happen, it creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation for people of colour, for migrants, for asylum seekers, and you only have to look at the organisers to understand why.
"You have Malachy Steenson, who wants to roll back abortion rights, who happily stands side-by-side with abusive grifters like Conor McGregor and the Fox News millionaire Tucker Carlson.
"The far right demonstration at the Garden of Rememberance has been endorsed by the National Party whose former leader has been quoted saying Hitler was the greatest leader of all time and he said on his Twitter account that someone needs to speak up on behalf of the ordinary decent Irish racist."
