Tag: Irish

Former UFC fighter Conor McGregor aims criticism at Irish leaders amid unrest in Dublin

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor voiced his displeasure with Irish law enforcement’s and others in leadership positions handling of the recent stabbing incident in Dublin. 

McGregor appeared to argue that his home country is in danger due to the crime and his belief that officials have not properly worked to remedy it. McGregor was born in Ireland.

Earlier this week, the mixed martial arts star took to social media to demand that Irish authorities condemn rioters who took to the streets after rumors circulated that a foreign national was responsible for the stabbing outside a school in Dublin. The BBC has since reported that the suspect is believed to be a male Irish citizen in his 40s.

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As of Friday, an estimated 34 people have been arrested in relation to the riots.

“There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact. NOT GOOD ENOUGH,” McGregor posted on X, the company formerly known as Twitter.

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Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee said that those who rioted did not do so for immigration purposes and labeled them as “thugs” and “criminals.”

“There was a protest earlier that was a general peaceful protest, but a separate group then [came] with an intention to seek and wreak havoc,” McEntee said. 

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the country’s capital had endured two attacks — one on innocent children and the other on “our society and the rule of law.”

“These criminals did not do what they did because they love Ireland, they did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people, they did not do it out of any sense of patriotism, however warped,” Varadkar told reporters on Friday morning.

“They did so because they’re filled with hate, they love violence, they love chaos, and they love causing pain to others.”

McGregor seemed to dismiss the statements from the Irish prime minister and other officials.

“Announce our plan of action!! What are we waiting for? Your statements of nothing are absolutely worthless to the solving of this issue,” McGregor wrote in a separate social media post.

McGregor also suggested the country was “at war.”

An estimated 500 people recently took to the streets in Dublin, which resulted in the burning of several cars. A bus was also torched, according to police. Multiple properties in the immediate area also suffered damage. 

The motive for the attack remains unknown.

McGregor has been vocal about his desire to see immigration reform in his native country. He previously spoke out about the death of 23-year-old Irish teacher and musician Ashling Murphy. She was killed in a stabbing in 2022.

Last week, a Slovak national was found guilty of murder in the killing. McGregor then responded, saying in part, “The Irish government makes me ashamed to be Irish. We are appalled with you all!”

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

5 charged with killing Irish UN peacekeeper in Lebanese military court

Lebanon’s military tribunal on Thursday charged five men with the killing of an Irish U.N. peacekeeper in December, a senior judicial official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, alleged all five are linked with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The indictment followed a half-year probe after an attack on a U.N. peacekeeping convoy near the town of Al-Aqbiya in Lebanon’s south, a stronghold of Hezbollah. The shooting resulted in the death of Pvt. Seán Rooney, 24, of Newtown Cunningham, Ireland, and seriously wounded Pvt. Shane Kearney, 22. The wounded peacekeeper was medically evacuated to Ireland. Two other Irish soldiers sustained light injuries.

The indictment includes evidence from bystanders’ testimonies, as well as audio recordings and video footage from surveillance cameras, the Lebanese official said. In some of the recordings of the confrontation, the gunmen reportedly could be heard telling the peacekeepers that they are from Hezbollah.

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Hezbollah has denied any role in the killing, and a spokesperson for the group declined to comment on the indictments Thursday.

One of five indicted, Mohamad Ayyad, is currently in custody of Lebanese authorities. The four others facing charges – Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman – are at large.

On the fatal night, Rooney and several other Irish soldiers with the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, were on their way from their base in the south to the Beirut airport. Two U.N. vehicles apparently took a detour through Al-Aqbiya, which is not part of the area under the peacekeepers’ mandate.

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Initial reports said angry residents confronted the peacekeepers, but the indictment concludes that the shooting was a targeted attack. The U.N. peacekeeper vehicle reportedly took a wrong turn and was surrounded by vehicles and armed men as they tried to make their way back to the main road.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said the indictment was an “important step towards justice”.

“Attacks on men and women serving the cause of peace are serious crimes and can never be tolerated,” Tenenti told the AP. “We look forward to justice for Private Rooney, his injured colleagues, and their families.”

UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to help the Lebanese military extend its authority into the country’s south for the first time in decades.

Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon frequently accuse the U.N. mission of collusion with Israel, while Israel has accused the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s military activities in southern Lebanon.