Gay activist Patrik Hermansson shares his experience of infiltrating the far-right
As the rise of the far-right is becoming a growing concern in Ireland, we look at the work of an overseas activist, Patrik Hermansson, who went undercover to discover more about the movement.Concerns about far-right and anti-immigrant sentiment in Ireland have been raised following the riots that took place in Dublin on November 23.As a result of the events, people are asking questions about the scale of influence from a number of people in the country with fringe right-wing views.
People are also asking questions about An Garda Siochána and whether they have enough intelligence to predict such unrest.As of now, Ireland doesn’t have a large far-right following in comparison to other countries, but many analysts are saying that the increase is concerning.Patrik Hermansson is one person who knows the potential dangers posed from fringe right-wing ideologues and how gathering intelligence on them involves a great deal of difficulty.Hermansson is a Swedish anti-racism campaigner and working with the advocacy group Hope Not Hate, he spent a year infiltrating the white nationalist movement (mainly in the UK) under an assumed identity.
He spoke to Katie Hannon on Upfront: The Podcast about what he went through during his time undercover.“While most meetings are religious talk, those could sometimes spiral into very explicit endorsement of violence and hate.
I sat in a meeting where they applauded the killing of 48 people in Pulse nightclub in Florida back in 2016.“As a gay man, that was quite a scary moment.
