Lekha Menon Margassery, a scientist, Labour candidate for Cork City Council, and a graduate of UCC, had an unpleasant encounter while placing election posters in Cork city on May 21st, just after 10pm. She and her companions were pursued by an irate man demanding the purpose behind their activities. Margassery, an Indian native who had previously run for office as an independent candidate in 2019, informed the man that they were merely hanging posters.
Despite learning that Margassery was an Irish citizen and that residency in Ireland permits one to vote and stand in local elections, the dismayed man questioned her eligibility to run for office. He voiced his xenophobic beliefs by falsely claiming that only those of Irish descent should serve in Irish government and demanding adherence to Catholicism, inciting worry for the potential influence of Margassery’s faith.
Stating that Margassery had immigrated to Ireland, the disgruntled man warned two bypassers against casting their vote for her. These individuals later sought out Margassery to ascertain her wellbeing. This incident left Margassery quite disturbed, propelling her to share her experience via a brief social media post the following day which garnered almost 700 replies, most of which were either dismissive, harmful, or racially prejudiced.
Margassery conveyed that this type of hostility has intensified since her last election campaign in 2019, speculating that the rise in animosity may be a byproduct of the isolation enforced by the pandemic.
Margassery was among 100 other immigrant-origin individuals contesting in this year’s local and European elections, marking a new pinnacle. Research conducted by the anti-extremist groups, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Hope and Courage Collective, revealed that many such participants suffered racial abuse throughout their campaigns, exposing an alarming trend in verbal assaults, aggression, and racially-motivated harassment endured by electoral aspirants both in Ireland and across Europe. A disproportionally high share of the reported 36 incidents targeted migrant-background participants, as recorded by the researchers.
The offences occurred both on the streets and on the digital platform. In the city of Limerick, the campaign team of the Fianna Fáil candidate Suzzie O’Deniyi was subjected to discriminatory and gender-based slurs while distributing pamphlets. A video of the Fine Gael candidate, Ejiro O’Hare-Stratton, was manipulated by an extremist social media account by inserting monkey sounds. According to the report, such incidents indicate a shift in Irish politics, marked by the use of belligerent and bullying tactics designed to suppress dissenting voices in politics.