Politics

Leo Varadkar sounds alarm on rising hate in Ireland, denounces claims of 'wokeism'

The Taoiseach said the rise of hate in Ireland is ‘very evident’ and the government would continue to pursue new laws

Leo Varadkar said the government has a national strategy against racism and is pursuing hate crime legislation in response to rising racism. PIcture Getty

Leo Varadkar has said racism is on the rise in Ireland and that attempts to dismiss it as “wokeism” is wrong.

The Taoiseach said the rise of hate in Ireland was “very evident” from people protesting outside accommodation centres for refugees and spreading “nonsense” conspiracy theories around replacement ideology.

“And then people actually using violence against people who are of a different colour or of a different ethnic background and that’s a matter of real ...