On a bright, cold afternoon on O’Connell Street in central Dublin, Memet Uludag, a business owner and activist, was rolling up an anti-racism banner.
It had been four days since the worst riot Ireland had seen in decades, and Uludag and hundreds of others had gathered to denounce the anti-immigrant sentiment that had fueled the violence.
"I am out here to say that whatever problems people experience in this country, and there are plenty — housing, health care — it’s nothing to do with people of color, migrant workers, or indeed refugees or asylum-seekers,” said Uludag, 51, who is originally from Turkey and has lived in Ireland for years.