Far-right groups co-operating across Border as shared grievances ‘override sectarian fault lines'
The
Institute for Strategic Dialogue
, a counter-extremism organisation, found the emerging trend marks a 'significant shift in the political landscape', in which shared grievances can 'override older sectarian fault lines'. It points to the support given by anti-immigration group Coolock Says No when members travelled from
Dublin
to
Belfast
to take part in a rally last August.
Unprecedented race-related violence erupted in south Belfast – the most ethnically diverse part of the city – following the rally. Some Dublin protesters wrapped themselves in Tricolours as they stood beside high-profile loyalists at the event, including convicted loyalist killer Glen Kane.
Further disorder took place in Ballymena last month, which the North's most senior police officer, Jon Boutcher, branded 'racist thuggery'.
READ MORE
The report, published on Wednesday, notes the overlap between Republic-based protesters and loyalist networks 'laid the groundwork' for further collaboration seen during the Ballymena and Limerick riots in June.
'Anti-migrant mobilisation across the island of Ireland has entered a new, more organised phase. What began as scattered, localised protests in late 2022 have evolved into an increasingly structured and internationally connected movement,' it says.
'In 2025, this is characterised by street protests, intimidation, targeted violence and co-ordinated amplification online.
'Riots in 2024 in Coolock and recent protests in Ballymena, Limerick and other locations on the island of Ireland show evidence of an emerging cross-Border infrastructure for anti-migrant mobilisation.'
While these incidents show how groups from both sides of the Border are working together in a 'tactical and symbolic way', the ideological dimensions of these alliances extend further afield, according to the analysis.
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Ballymena: Week of violent attacks on Northern Ireland's small immigrant community 'akin to 1930s Germany'
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'Some loyalist figures involved in these protests have established ties to UK far-right and neo-Nazi networks,' it adds. 'Glen Kane, a former loyalist paramilitary convicted of manslaughter for a sectarian killing in 1993, was present at an anti-migrant protest in Belfast 2024 alongside members of Coolock Says No.'
Social media activity is also examined and, while the report finds there is no overt co-ordination between loyalist and Republic far-right groups, it shows there is content on Facebook pages and Telegram channels that 'reflect similar themes'.
Language explicitly frames migration as a threat to national security and western civilisation, the report says.
British far-right and Russian-aligned outlets have actively promoted the cross-Border incidents as part of an anti-migrant narrative, it adds.
A discussion on YouTube between far-right activist and Donegal election candidate Niall McConnell, and loyalist ex-prisoner Mark Sinclair, at the height of the unrest in Ballymena, is also highlighted in the study.
This public collaboration underscores how opposition to immigration is 'fostering unlikely alliances' and 'reshaping traditional sectarian fault lines into shared ethno-nationalist grievances'.
The report's authors consider the implications of the growth of Ireland's anti-migrant movement, which is 'no longer confined to local discontent or grassroots protests'.
'It has become a fluid movement that spans digital platforms, physical spaces and national borders.'
In addition, a diverse range of 'international actors are actively embedding Ireland's domestic protests within wider global anti-migrant mobilisation narratives'.
British neo-Nazi and far-right networks, North American influencers who 'frame Irish unrest as part of a broader cultural war', and Russian-aligned propaganda outlets are 'promoting polarising content', says the report.
The development presents 'new challenges for those tasked with safeguarding social cohesion and democratic resilience', the report warns.
'Any meaningful response must account for the layered, transnational nature of this mobilisation, and the speed with which local tensions can be co-opted into broader campaigns of disruption and division.'
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