Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell said there is a “responsibility to address the roots of this unwarranted fear, and the harm it unleashes” referring to Sunday’s fire at a former pub earmarked for homeless accommodation.
The fire that gutted the Shipwright pub in Ringsend, was likely started deliberately on New Year’s Eve is thought to have been started deliberately, gardaí believe.
A Garda forensic investigation of the scene has been completed, and CCTV evidence has been gathered from the area which will help identify the suspects.
The building has been surrounded by false rumours that it was to be used to accommodate asylum seekers - several protests have also taken place in the weeks leading up to Sunday’s blaze by far-right advocates.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said those found responsible for the arson attack will be brought to justice.
Last month, the former hotel Ross Lake House Hotel in Rosscahill, Co Galway was completely destroyed in another suspected arson after being acquired by the Government for asylum seeker housing.
Speaking at a Mass for the Diplomatic Corps on World Day of Peace in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ballyroan Archbishop Farrell pointed out that “it is not enough to condemn incidents like Sunday’s fire in Ringsend".
He continued: “Conflicts survive on the caricature of our opponents. We make our sisters and brothers - often people we’ve never encountered - different to ourselves. It is this tendency, and it is in us all, that we must work to address.
“Here is one of the deepest roots of the fear that can prove so corrosive in our societies, a fear we’ve seen erupt destructively in recent days. We have a responsibility to understand and urgently address the roots of this unwarranted fear, and the harm it unleashes.”
Archbishop Farrell added that “peace building" can be learned and taught.
“In the words of Pope Saint Paul VI, as he inaugurated the World Day of Peace 1968, ‘the world must be educated to love peace, to build it up and defend it.’”
The Archbishop pointed out that displacement of any person touches our lives in many ways. “Clearly its cost puts further pressure on State services which are already stretched. This brings in its wake a call for solidarity and generosity in ways that some countries, including our own, may not have confronted before.
Addressing the diplomats who attended the Mass the Archbishop referenced that on the days since Christmas another tranche of State Papers has been declassified.
He highlighted that their “hidden efforts” and the values that motivate their work of fostering dialogue and cooperation between people of different political, social, ethnic, and religious backgrounds can only do any country including Ireland some good.
“I acknowledge the presence of the Dean and members of the Diplomatic Corps. Without constant dialogue which is your work, no peaceful, equitable, or enduring ways forward will be found,” the Archbishop noted.
“This ongoing work of diplomacy is vital. Of course, the test is life rather than the precision of the definitions. While our words matter; what people do is what makes the difference. In international relations, it is not what leaders and States say, it is what they - and we as citizens - do”.
