'Ireland has changed massively': Protest organizer speaks out as thousands rally against mass immigration

NEW BOOK from Sheila Gunn Reid, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec. Order your copy now!

'Ireland has changed massively': Protest organizer speaks out as thousands rally against mass immigration

Thousands of Irish patriots gathered in the nation's second-largest city on Saturday to take a stand against unfettered immigration.

| June 10, 2025 | News Analysis | 1 Comment

Go Ad Free

Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant was on the ground in the city of Cork on Saturday as thousands of demonstrators voiced their opposition to mass immigration and other government policies at the National Protest For Ireland.

Ezra spoke with the organizer of the protest, Derek Blighe, about why he decided to hold the demonstration and the impact of unrestrained immigration on Ireland.

"I lived in Canada for 10 years, and I came back to Ireland, and I went woah, what is happening. Wokeness, mass immigration had absolutely changed my country completely," he said.

"Ireland used to be a conservative country, it used to be a safe country, it used to have high trust. Now the streets are dangerous, children can't walk the streets, women can't walk the streets," Blighe added.

Here’s our drone filming the anti-immigration march in Cork, Ireland today. pic.twitter.com/j5fAWYbA8b
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) June 7, 2025

According to reporting from Gript, at least 22% of the current population of Ireland was born overseas, and protests have broken out across the country over further plans to bring in large numbers of asylum seekers.

Blighe went on: "This used to be a country where you would leave your car open, you would leave your front door open at night. You could leave your children in a pram at the front of a shop. You cannot do that anymore. There are stabbings, there are rapes, young people can't find housing ... Ireland has changed massively."

Saturday's protest saw approximately 4000 demonstrators, with speakers at the event condemning the Irish government for creating a housing crisis and neglecting increasing public safety issues.

According to Ireland's Central Statistics Office, immigration in the year leading up to April 2024 hit a 17-year high, with nearly 150,000 people immigrating to the country.

Please support our independent journalism on Ireland's migrant crisis!

Ezra Levant and his cameraman Lincoln Jay have flown to Dublin to report on the horrific assault of a 10-year-old girl outside Ireland’s largest migrant hotel — a facility purchased with €158 million in taxpayer funds and now housing 2,000 migrant men.

While the state-funded media offers sanitized coverage, Rebel News is going directly to the scene to document what’s happening on the ground, speak with local residents, and expose what the political class wants hidden.

Since Rebel receives no government funding, this mission depends entirely on viewers. Please chip in to help us cover the cost of this important reporting.