THE Limerick Post newspaper has accused a local human rights group of trying to silence the dissenting voice of a vulnerable immigrant worker and stifle the right to free editorial expression.
The paper was responding to a statement issued by Doras Luimni last Friday that accused it of incitement to hatred by publishing an article that was “entirely unfounded and absent of fact or evidence”.
In a statement issued today, the Limerick Post stated that as the biggest circulating newspaper in the Mid West, it had an unparalleled reputation for promoting racial equality and integration in the region.
“We have been outspoken critics of the conditions endured by asylum seekers in direct provision system. Our coverage of immigration and integration issues has been acknowledged by the Muslim community in Limerick who presented us with a special award for our work in this regard.
“We stand by our report in last week’s edition in which we gave voice to an immigrant worker in a Limerick direct provision centre who expressed his concerns about increased radicalisation among young men in the centre. He claimed that staff were subjected to physical attacks and mental abuse by gangs of radical young Muslim men.
“Before publishing the report, we interviewed the immigrant worker on two separate occasions. We secured video and documentary evidence that the assaults occurred as he stated and that they were reported to Gardaí at the time. We also have statements from asylum seekers in Limerick direct provision centres testifying to incidents of intimidation and expressing concern over increasing radicalisation among recent arrivals to the centres.
“We abhor efforts by Doras Luimni to try to silence the dissenting voice of a vulnerable immigrant worker and their attempts to stifle editorial expression by the Limerick Post. We will spare no effort to defend our commercial and reputational interests in the face of an orchestrated social media campaign that is designed to stifle the very concept of freedom of the press”, the statement concluded.
