I SAW a few things in 2025 I wasn’t expecting to see on the streets of Ireland anytime soon. I saw a few shops closing in our local town and it suddenly seemed to expose the vulnerability of small town Ireland.
I’m not an economist, though I might argue that they seem to be simply well-informed gamblers anyway, so I’m not arguing from any great base of knowledge here but how much would it take for our towns to struggle? There are plenty of other towns in this county that do seem to be openly run down so why not any other one? It is a little strange here in this beautiful corner of Ireland. I visited a friend once on the edge of the beautiful bay where she and her husband farmed. I waxed innocently about how wonderful it would be to live here and she took me out on the road and pointed out the ten or twelve houses dotted around the bay and said, everyone of those is a holiday home.
Now, she said, would you really want to bring up a young family here? God only knows we rely on those tourists but if a beautiful place simply becomes a bolthole for those wealthy enough to afford second and third homes, what then?
One thing I really wasn’t expecting to see in 2025 was actual neo-Nazis marching on the streets of Ireland’s second city.
But there they were. I can’t say they were particularly scary. They were sickening and obnoxious but I wouldn’t be planning on fleeing just yet. They were, though, a grim example of how all that internet posturing, all that poison can seep out into real life. It was really quite bizarre to see in real life people who openly praise Adolf Hitler online walking our streets.
Are they a threat?
Well, places have been set on fire, there is a strong push to frame a social narrative that demonises immigrants, they appear relentless in their hate. But if there is one thing social media does is that it distorts. So, I could report that I witnessed a couple of hundred neo-Nazis and assorted hangers on parading through the streets and that would be true. What is also true is that they were drowned out by and vastly outnumbered by a rally opposing them. Hundreds against thousands. That is the true reality.
That’s a handy lesson for 2026. The loudest, most insistent voices, aren’t necessarily anything but that. Loud and insistent. It doesn’t mean they are many. There is a social danger that is real.
Society could be led down a resentful, bigoted, path. There are dangerous people out there with dangerous views. There is a case for saying hate and resentment are getting worse year by year.
Yet, there is plenty to be optimistic about too. It could just as easily be argued that we have passed peak hate. The resentful and the hateful have nowhere to go with a philosophy that is so obviously self-destructive. They have nothing to offer. Nothing constructive. Nothing that would make Ireland a better place. And one thing that is strikingly clear about these flag-wearing patriots is that they hate Ireland.
They hate this country of ours. The actual country we live in. They hate us.
Because the truth is that in everyday interaction, in a shop, in a pub, out for a walk, driving along, getting on a train or a bus, most people are completely kind and generous and civil.
Irish society, whatever else you might hear to the contrary, functions really well. Dublin functions well and is as perfectly safe as any big city is.
I was there recently and it was as good as ever. Rural Ireland is friendly and beautiful. There is always craic to be had. Sometimes it is as if we stop believing the evidence we see before us, the evidence of our own eyes, and believe instead what someone says on a phone-in or a social media platform. Do we have problems and injustices? We certainly do but this is still a fine, fine, place. This is still a lucky place to be. Ignore the patriots who tell you how awful Ireland is. It is nothing of the sort. In that way we can go into 2026 with optimism and
Joe Horgan posts on X at @JoeHorganwriter
See More: Communities, Small-town Ireland
