Episode 2937: A Conversation with Eoin Ó Broin

On Bank Holiday Monday a crowd waving thousands of Irish tricolours marched down O’Connell Street on the way to the Custom House.

There were banners calling for mass deportation and alleging a government plot to replace the Irish people. There were renditions of Italia 90 favourites Ole Ole and You’ll Never Beat The Irish. There were chants of “Whose Streets? Our Streets”, and a lot of shouts of “shame on you” at the watching Gardai.

The most commonly-heard chant of all was “Sinn Féin are Traitors.”

Today we speak to one of Sinn Fein’s leading figures, Eoin O’Broin, to get his sense of what is going on. Why is a party that has not yet been in government the number one target for the protestors? What does he understand by the term ‘far-right’, and is it correct to apply to this movement? How did we get to this point in Ireland, and now that we’re here, what is to be done?

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Did @SecondCaptains with @JohnBrewin_ on the institution of Real Madrid and *ilusion* as well as many strange decisions last nighthttps://t.co/R2TpzLIBbj

— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) May 9, 2024