An event hosting prominent anti-immigration speakers has been cancelled following backlash over student safety concerns.
An event hosting prominent anti-immigration speakers scheduled to take place in UCD Village auditorium on Thursday, 8 May, has now been cancelled, The University Observer can confirm.
Registrar Colin Scott said in an email to concerned students that the venue booking has since been cancelled, and is being communicated.
The event, a panel discussion titled ‘Is Ireland Safe?’, was organised by the newly formed group Breaking Point, who describe themselves as a forum “where established ideas meet new ones - a space that evaluates ideas not by existing ideologies, but by their merit”.
The Breaking Point group was founded by recent graduates of University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, and claim that Irish institutions have a “stifling culture” that has hindered open discourse and progress. The group’s mission statement claims that “Irish political life would benefit from an injection of liberty”.
The event had received backlash from members of the UCD community, as the panellists included prominent anti-immigrant and transphobic speakers, raising concerns for the safety of students, in particular international students - many of whom live in the Village residences.
A letter to UCD President Orla Feely requesting the event be moved off campus was circulated around UCD, which received signatures from 22 UCD societies and the UCD Students’ Union.
The letter stated it was “shocking to see an event like this planned to take place on our inclusive and multicultural campus”, further calling the ‘rhetorical title’ of the event a “dog whistle to conduct an event with a pre-determined purpose, to blame criminality on the most vulnerable groups in Ireland, immigrants and asylum seekers”.
The panel line-up consisted of Nick Delehanty, Ben Scallan, and Tim Crowley. The line-up also originally included investigative reporter Nicola Tallant, though Tallant was later replaced by freelance journalist Theo McDonald.
Nick Delehanty is an independent political candidate who ran for office in the latest European and local elections, but was not elected. His memorable posters bore the slogan “make crime illegal”. Delehanty is a vocal supporter of the far-right anti-immigrant group the Irish Alliance, and attended their ‘anti-mass migration’ protest on Saturday, 26 April.
Panellist Ben Scallan is a senior political correspondent at right-wing media site Gript, and a prominent speaker on ‘gender ideology’. He has stated that “it is not a fact that people can be biologically born male but then later become female or vice versa,” referring to this as “an incoherent opinion”.
Tim Crowley is a UCD assistant professor in philosophy. He is a member of the group Heterodox Academy, who seek to "advance open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement” across higher education, while opposing the requirement for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements in faculty hiring. They argue that DEI statements in faculty hiring “pressure applicants to align with specific ideological views, regardless of their personal beliefs, effectively functioning as compelled political speech.”
The latest addition to the panel was freelance journalist Theo McDonald. McDonald is a member of the DCU debating society, and represented Aontú at their Interparty Debate in April 2024. Similar to Scallan and Delehanty, McDonald has repeatedly argued against the Irish government's proposed hate speech laws, writing in an article for thehill.com “the term ‘hatred’ is often used to describe a range of legitimate concerns that many in the political class would prefer not to talk about including the tinder box of immigration that Ireland is now coming to terms with”.
Breaking Point has issued a statement in response to the cancellation, claiming it "raises concerns over academic freedom". They claim UCD informed them they were no longer able to faciliate the event due to "concerns about potential disturbances during the examination period," though Breaking Point reference the students' letter to Orla Feely as the cause behind the cancellation. They stated that the authors of the letter had chosen a "more illiberal route" by requesting the event be moved off campus, rather than attending the event to question panellists. Breaking Point has offered refunds on tickets, and have committed to rearranging the event in the future.
Breaking Point further responded to the University Observer's request for comment regarding the saftey concerns for students in relation to the anti-immigrant views held by numerous members of their panel. Breaking Point stated "Our event was not on the topic of immigration, but was a discussion on crime in Ireland. Panelists were focusing on issues related to crime statistics, the prison system, and problems within An Garda Síochána. We organise talks on topics that we find important with speakers that we find interesting regardless of ideological background. We strongly believe that Universities are essential to our society and that the excitement of debate and argument in a safe environment adds to university life."
They added it was "disappointing" to hear such claims were made. "We would invite individuals who were concerned to attend our event and hear the speakers for themselves. We will open the panel to questions after the event and encourage attendees to challenge our speakers."
UCD Estates did not reply to the University Observer’s request for comment regarding the criteria it has for events held on campus, though the event has since been cancelled.
This article was updated to include a statement on the cancellation from Breaking Point.