Thread by @TheBeaconIrl

Far-right anti-maskers are currently gathering in Dublin on O’Connell Bridge.

Crowd is currently shouting “No” to the suggestion of the six week lockdown.

“Everyone here means business”.

Difficult to judge numbers but looks to be at least 100 people at the rally.

Meanwhile on Facebook, the conspiracy theories are being pushed at the same time.

The 1916 Proclamation is currently being read.

Slightly better view of the crowd now.

Earlier in the rally the crowd heard from Dee Wall who told them that COVID-19 is manmade.

Crowd is currently headed for Dublin Port.

Some consternation from Dee Wall as apparently Mellissa O’Neil, formerly of the Irish Freedom Party, tried to get the crowd to go to the GPO instead of the port.

Splits in the wider far-right movement here are quite common as there are attempts to consolidate power under competing banners as it were.

Some video of the rally marching towards Dublin Port.

Again, hard to judge numbers but too large nonetheless.

Protestors have been met by a lot of gardaí and barriers.

Currently they're being accused of "protecting the paedos".

And that the army needs to come out and stand with the Irish people.

“Look at the traitors protecting the paedos in the Dáil”.

Another view of the crowd here.

The protestors are currently blocking traffic.

“No one is going anywhere”.

Footage of the crowd near the port.

Currently blocking traffic. One of the protestors said “No one is going anywhere”.

One of our biggest fans is in attendance today.

https://twitter.com/soundmigration/status/1319285141382942727?s=20

Apparently the number for the emergency services, 999, is code for “the mark of the beast, 666”.

Still blocking traffic.

Now with added music.

Dee Wall is currently ranting at a line of gardaí.

Appears some of the Public Order Unit have also been deployed.

She also told the gardaí if they touch any of the protestors they will be sued personally, and not the government.

Ross Lahive appears to have made the journey from Cork to Dublin today.

Lahive was part of the crowd at the Custom House in August who assaulted counter-protestors.

https://twitter.com/gemmentedod1/status/1299987356494299136

Somewhat better view of the crowd.

Here's a view of the crowd as it marched up to Dublin Port.

Easier to gauge numbers here. Relatively big numbers, and a big problem.

Looks like the gardaí are trying to move them on now.

Hard to imagine that some arrests aren’t imminent.

The lack of consistency from the gardaí can be seen quite clearly here.

https://twitter.com/BoscoTD/status/1319278530744610817

Seems reality is starting to bite with some of the protestors.

Here one of them can be heard pleading with the gardaí to be let go.

Appears that a number of arrests have been made.

A number of them have been pushed by the gardaí onto Grafton Street.

In the video below Dee Wall says that gardaí deployed their batons.

Can see the arrests being made here.

https://twitter.com/soundmigration/status/1319320348920250369

These were sent to us.

Seems the gardaí came prepared.

A bird’s-eye view of the gardaí making arrests in Dublin earlier this evening.

Hard to believe that we’re not even 24 hours into the lockdown and this has happened.

Thanks go to @ThereseCahill1 for this.

We’re not the religious kind but who are we to judge.

https://twitter.com/ThereseCahill1/status/1319352400327618561

@ThereseCahill1 Seriously though, looks like it was borderline chaos on Grafton Street today.

https://twitter.com/christineomg5/status/1319349719135637506

@ThereseCahill1 Another example of reality biting as a result of today’s arrests.

@ThereseCahill1 Some more footage to come in the following tweets of the arrests made on Grafton Street.

Pretty chaotic and a lot of shouting.

@ThereseCahill1 In this clip the protestors are demanding to know what laws they’ve broken?

The gardaí are also asked when they joined the Communist Party.

@ThereseCahill1 Gardaí were asked if they know the punishment for treason.

One woman is optimistic, shouting that “All they’re doing is waking the country up”.

And in this final clip, the gardaí are asked “Is the bonus worth it”. It’s also pointed out to them that they “broke all kinds of laws today”.

The man is also heard talking about how masks spread disease and has resulted in the deaths of children in Germany.

An update to this thread:

Coverage from the “Paper of Record” has, as you’d expect, been strange.

In the initial report the rally was described as far right in the headline and lede.

Far right was later removed from both sections without notice.

https://twitter.com/WSMIreland/status/1319379961179000832

Some reactions to the events from various far-right accounts. A mixture of despondency and anger.

A man who was photographed punching a counter-protestor at the Custom House in August was not pleased with the gardaí response on Thursday.