Islamophobic and homophobic graffiti has been spray painted onto the Poolbeg Lighthouse, in the second such hateful incident in recent weeks.
In late February, local councillor for Poolbeg, Hazel Cho (GP), took initiative to paint over racist graffiti scrawled onto the iconic Dublin landmark after being alerted to the disgusting language by a constituent.
Dear racists,
— Hazel Chu (@hazechu) February 23, 2020
Please stop being d*@ks & writing crap like this around our city!
H x
(Got contacted by peeps on twitter & via mail to ask council to remove. I’ve contacted them but since it’s a family walk area I went down today to do what I can. Couldn’t reach the top tho!) pic.twitter.com/FM27LzRNam
Now, just over a week later, further discriminatory graffiti has appeared sprayed onto the walls surrounding the lighthouse on the picturesque family walk.
The words ‘No Gays’ and ‘No Muslims’, alongside ‘IRA’ on an adjacent wall, were scrawled on the walls in bright red paint, as seen in an image taken Friday morning by a Dublin Gazette reader.
The Poolbeg Lighthouse area is a walking spot frequented by families and tourism groups alike.
Speaking to Dublin Gazette, local Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said that acts such as this are “disgusting”.
He said: “I think it is disgusting – apart from the appalling messages, it will also cost money to clean it up.
“I have asked [for it to be] removed but I would also encourage walkers to report anything strange that they see. These racist, nationalist homophobic vandals must be stopped.”
Dublin Port Company (DPC), who have responsibility for the maintenance of the lighthouse, told Dublin Gazette that as this is the second such incident in recent weeks, they are now reviewing the area to install CCTV cameras.
A spokesperson said: “The graffiti at the Great South Wall was widely reported on Twitter. DPC responded via Twitter to advise our maintenance teams would attend [on Monday].
“This is the second incident to happen in recent weeks; as a result of this, our security manager and head of properties are now reviewing the area to install CCTV [cameras].
“[The cameras] will be then monitored by our port security teams 27/7 via our port operations CCTV Control Room.
“The public can continue to contact DPC via our social media channels, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and also through our corporate website and through our main reception desk at 01 887 6000.”
An image shared to social media by DPC showed the walls of the lighthouse cleared of graffiti, with the company sharing their thanks to those who reported the vandalism to them through social media.
