UFC fighter and Dublin native Conor McGregor has come under fire for a number of tweets on social media. His tweets have been seen as incitement and promotion of the Dublin riots on Thursday night by several social media users.
Yesterday, three young children and a woman were injured in a knife attack outside a school on Parnell Square East, a serious incident which has been severely condemned across Ireland.
Hours later, clashes erupted with riot police on O'Connell Street. Chaos followed, where buses and a Luas tram were set on fire. Shops like Foot Locker and department stores like Arnotts were also broken into before the chaos died down in Ireland's capital city.
The rioters have been condemned by many, including Irish Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who labelled them "criminals" filled with hate.
With tensions high due to the ongoing situation, several tweets were made online as to who was to blame for the scenes in Dublin. The likes of McGregor came under fire for his series of tweets.
On November 22, McGregor tweeted, "Ireland, we are at war." And during the riots, McGregor also tweeted, "Our chief of police had this to say on the riots in the aftermath. Drew, not good enough.
"There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape, or form with this frightening act.
"Not good enough. Make change or make way. Ireland for the victory. God bless those attacked today; we pray."
Many people on X have hammered the UFC star for his comments and believe that he added unnecessary fuel to the fire in Dublin.
"I don't believe he's attending the event."
Eddie Hearn on Conor McGregor's involvement in Chantelle Cameron vs. Katie Taylor's rematch tomorrow following his social media activity this week.#TaylorCameron2 | @IrelandAMVMTV pic.twitter.com/uJntldcahk— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 24, 2023
One user on X said, "As for Conor McGregor, inciting hate and violence with his tweets…someone take his head out of the bag. Clown. Muppet. Scumbag. He had already lost the respect of decent Irish people, only has the backing of uneducated, ignorant far-right idiots. Unfortunately, that's dangerous!" Another said, "Conor McGregor is an embarrassment to Ireland and has to be held accountable for his role in inciting tonight’s attacks in Dublin."
McGregor was expected to attend Katie Taylor’s World title fight against Chantelle Cameron in Dublin on Saturday night because his company sponsors the event.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter of the event, was asked if the Dubliner would be attending the event on Ireland AM this morning and said he didn't believe that he would be attending the event at the 3Arena.
“I don’t believe so, no,” said Hearn.
Elaine Crowley asked Hearn about McGregor's tweets and added: “He’s been quite incendiary in his social media activity over the last 24 hours. No one likes to see what’s happened, but his tweets last night were ‘Ireland, we are at war’, "Do not let any Irish property be taken over unannounced".
“He’s slammed the government. He said last night you reap what you sow. Are you concerned at all that his rhetoric, which has been widely criticized, are you concerned at all if he gets involved . . .?”
Hearn responded by saying: “I don’t believe he’s attending the event. I don’t speak on his behalf. He’s obviously someone who has his own views, as everybody does.”
“So, he won’t be there?” Crowley asked.
“I don’t believe so, no. For us, we just focus on the event," Hearn replied.
