GAA legend Joe Brolly slams Conor McGregor ‘Ireland at war’ comments in wake of riots

Speaking on Newstalk, the barrister and podcaster took issue with McGregor’s comments, after the Crumlin MMA star launched an astonishing attack on allowing immigrants to vote on his ‘X’ account declaring: “Ireland, we are at war”.

In a series of messages posted on his feed he added: “Do not let any Irish property be took over (sic) unannounced. Evaporate (sic) said property. It’s a war.”

Speaking on Newstalk, Mr Brolly said: “Paul Golding who is a neo-Nazi, and a Britain First leader (was) saying Conor McGregor should have a freedom march in Dublin (and) hundreds of thousands would go.

“Ireland would be solidly behind him. This (Golding) is a neo-Nazi who is a stanch supporter of loyalist paramilitaries and has multiple convictions for terrorism and harassment of Muslims.

“His (McGregor’s) contribution is the voice of the wealthier haters.

“First stir it up. At war with whom?

“Brazilian Deliveroo drivers, Filipino nurses, American tourists?

“And when it kicked off, I didn’t see Conor on O’Connell Street.

“There were despicable scene and he uses two pictures, and he did some research to find them, two pictures of non-whites looting, in his tweet.

“And you have the Britain First leader cheering this on.”

Brolly, who witnessed Thursday’s attack on Parnell Square, also said that far from being patriots, the Irish far-right loathe Ireland.

“No one hates Ireland more than the Irish far-right,” he told The Hard Shoulder.

“They hate bus drivers, librarians, Luas drivers, teachers, women, gays, trans - they loathe trans people - politicians, they can’t stand politicians,” he said.

“They hate working people, Muslims, Jews - [they spread] the Jewish replacement theory, we see them on O’Connell Street making these outrageous antisemitic speeches.

“The GAA, nurses, doctors, the homeless, sports people, they hate me.

“And they’ll happily smash up their own city and loot shops because hate is transferable. It’s got nothing to do with politics.”

McGregor’s rant followed earlier messages when re retweeted a comment by news website Gript, which criticised Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for stating “everyone resident in Ireland can vote in Local Elections, regardless of nationality or visa status”.

Retweeting the Gript comment that offers “three reasons why allowing migrants to vote is ludicrous”, McGregor wrote: “Imagine a mega power nation allowing this absolute foolishness!!

“Imagine the United States! This is the most preposterous, ridiculous, scheming attempt at gaining votes this government has attempted yet.

"A real showing of the lack of care they have for the common Irish citizen. As it stands they do not have my vote. Shame on them!”

As violent scenes, including looting and attacks on gardai and public transport, broke out across Dublin city centre, McGregor continued to post incendiary comments.

Just after 10pm on Thursday, following the outbreak of chaos he wrote: “I don’t care about president higgins statement. Or Varadkars statement. Or Mary Lou’s. Or Justice McEntee’s. Or Garda commissioner’s. Announce our plan of action!!

"What are we waiting for? Your statements of nothing are absolutely worthless to the solving of this issue. Take Action!! Fix this situation IMMEDIATELY!”

Tanaiste Micheal Martin later said the comments were “absolutely disgraceful”.

While Mr Martin did not name McGregor, he said comments “of that type” are “essentially inciting hate”.

“There has been many comments I’ve watched online of that type which are “absolutely disgraceful,” Mr Marin told reporters at the weekend.

“We have a parliamentary democracy, we value that, Irish people do as well.

“Isolated voices like that and voices that essentially are inciting hate and to some degree incitement is unacceptable.”

Following the comments, McGregor hit back with a scathing response, referencing the Ashling Murphy murder trial.

“Blame anyone but themselves. Typical. Worthless you are Michaél. Worthless and spineless. Ryan Casey called you all out last week grieving the love of his life, stolen by pawn scum, and nothing but waffle from you all since. Zero action!”

McGregor continued: “Everything from our lax border with gravy train benefits, to our pitiful mental health services, to our country in flames is ON YOUR WATCH! And still no plan of action!! Where is our plan of action? What are we going to do to ensure this stops happening?

“How are we going to ensure this ceases to continue in our country? Ireland is fed up of you and YOUR TYPE. We are not stopping here until real change is implemented. We need safety. We need security. We need leadership! As of now we have none of the 3. Shame on you and YOUR TYPE.”

But former Miss Ireland Holly Carpenter also took to her X account to voice her opinion on McGregor’s stance.

She wrote: “Seeing an Irish athlete, with a huge following and a big influence (on certain people), fuelling so much hate on this platform is extremely dangerous. There is a direct link between his tweets & the violent scenes we saw in Dublin last night and he needs to be held accountable.”

Replying to a comment on the thread claiming “people are fed up,” Holly responded: “I don’t think tweeting “Ireland, we are at war” to his 10.2 million followers is helpful in this situation. Essentially encouraging a riot and putting the general public, Gardaí & ambulance drivers at risk.”