Across the country, streets and housing estates have recently seen a slew of Irish tricolours erected on lampposts and buildings.
To some, it's a show of national pride. To others, it is intended to intimidate. What’s behind the campaign, and how is it being seen by local authorities and political leaders?
Walk down some Dublin streets today and you’ll see Irish tricolours flying from lampposts.
While the flag is a familiar sight on official buildings or at big sporting events, these displays haven’t been put up by any official organisation.
From parts of the inner city to estates beyond the M50 and into towns nationwide, a wave of flag-raising has appeared almost overnight.
And while it may feel sudden on the streets, social media analysis shows the campaign has been building steadily in Ireland since mid-August.
Data from a social-media monitoring tool shows that online posts about flags in Dublin were almost non-existent throughout the first few weeks of the month.
Then, on 21 August, it surged when a video posted by a prominent Dublin-based anti-immigration campaigner was shared by the 'Inevitable West’ account on X.
The caption posted alongside the video read: "Irish Flags all over the North Strand Dublin Inner City," with the hashtag ‘Irish Lives Matter,’ a slogan associated with anti-immigration groups in Ireland promoting Irish-first rhetoric.
The video was initially viewed 52,000 times but when it was amplified by the Inevitable West account, it generated more than half a million views.
The Inevitable West account, which has 338,000 followers, describes itself as defending ‘Western values’ and posts primarily anti-immigration and Islamophobic content.
It is part of a network of anonymous social-media pages that build large followings by stoking anger in Ireland and other western countries.
Mentions of Dublin flags on X jumped more than 300% in the 24 hours after the account shared the video — climbing to nearly 5,000 posts.
And while Inevitable West’s intervention didn’t create the movement, it did tie it to UK flag-raising drives and cast it within a broader anti-immigration discourse.
The post read: "Irish patriots have joined the "Raise the Colours" campaign with flags being raised in Dublin."
Across Britain, 'Raise the Colours’ has seen supporters hang Union Jacks and St George’s Crosses on lampposts and homes. Right-wing groups backing the campaign say it’s a show of patriotism - critics say it’s actually intended as a show of nationalism, and opposition to immigration.
And back in Ireland, groups with similar ideologies have been encouraging followers to ‘raise the colours’ at home — framing it as pride in Ireland while attaching it to anti-immigration talking points.
Several Facebook pages prominent in these circles have also promoted the campaign, sharing advice and making flags available for followers to buy or collect.
On 1 September nationalist political party, the Irish Freedom Party, posted on their Facebook page urging supporters to fly the flag in the name of "national freedom and independence."
This call came several days after mentions of flag-raising spiked again on social media, following the apparent leak of an email from a Dublin City Council (DCC) official about Irish flags on public property.
The leaked email’s subject line reads: "Proliferation of flags – exercise to identify where they are present," and was interpreted by some online as a sign that DCC was preparing to act against the displays.
A prominent anti-immigration influencer based in the south of the country shared the email on 29 August alongside the caption: "They’re sending workers around Dublin to remove the tricolour," fuelling online anger and prompting debate about the council’s stance on national symbols.
Mentions of flags on X jumped from 37 to 1,553 following the posting of the leaked email.
This highlights how internal concerns, once leaked and shared widely, can end up amplifying the campaign they were meant to address — giving new momentum to a movement that thrives on claims of being silenced.
Subsequently, a number of elected representatives from DCC gave media interviews calling for the flags to be removed, over concerns they could be viewed as intimidatory or exclusionary – essentially that the national flag was being misused.
This stance resulted in several councillors becoming the target of sustained online abuse and harassment. Several said they did not want to be interviewed on the topic during research for this article.
Independent Cllr Cieran Perry from the Cabra-Glasnevin Local Electoral Area agreed to speak, and said he can understand the bind which authorities have now found themselves in.
"It is genuinely a difficult situation for DCC and the officials there. If the Council did decide to take them down, there's obviously a physical threat to some staff who may be requested to do so," Cllr Perry said.
"It’s clear from some of the people that are erecting the flags from their social media that the purpose is an intent to try and intimidate foreign people."
"Some see it [the flag campaign] and they feel that there has to be a response. Others will ask, ‘Why would we even consider taking down the national flag?’ And I can understand that perfectly well," he added.
Other elected representatives, including Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn, view the flag movement as linked to recent protests around immigration, and say authorities shouldn’t step in.
"Most people that I've met that have been involved in these marches and these communities, are frustrated, they're angry, they feel that they haven't been consulted about what's going on in their village, their town, their city," Mr O’Flynn said.
"There are people that will hijack any cause for their own gain. And I accept that. But I don't think that we should be taking down flags," he added.
That differing reaction appears to be mirrored by the public. On RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne this week, opinions were mixed.
One member of the public in Kells, Co Meath, said the flags gave "a voice" for people who believe they’re "being walked over in Ireland."
Another said they were "not very happy to see them up," arguing that "Irish people have travelled the world for years, and how we can stop anybody coming into this country is beyond me."
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Artist Dr Anthony Haughey, who lectures in media at Technological University Dublin (TUD), has spent years examining how symbols and their meaning can change over time.
"I don't think you control the way that people use flags. Different groups respond and use flags for their own agendas. It's not something you can ban. I don't think even legally it's possible to ban a national symbol," he said.
And that’s at the heart of much of the debate around the flag in recent weeks — what role, if any, do authorities have in managing the displaying of the tricolour?
Planning rules mean that, technically, putting up a flag on a public lamppost requires permission from the local authority.
Speaking to RTÉ Prime Time on Tuesday, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said he believes councils should enforce those rules.
"I believe in a rules-based system and, as Minister for Justice, that’s what I have to apply. To put up a flag or a poster you need permission from the local authority — otherwise you’re breaking planning rules," he said.
But while the rules technically allow councils to act, officials say enforcement is far from simple.
Inside DCC the approach is described as "proceed cautiously" according to one councillor who said concerns about staff safety and the risk of confrontation is shaping how, or whether, removals are attempted.
Visible threats from some of the accounts promoting the flag campaign have brought those safety concerns into sharp focus.
One recent post from the Facebook page ‘That’s Dublin For Ya’ warned: "Note to those taking down flags — we will publish your photos and names if you’re seen taking down the national flag of Ireland… You’ve been warned."
Messages like this, which have been widely shared and commented on, illustrate why councils are wary of sending staff to remove flags and why some councillors have been reluctant to speak publicly.
And as with the campaign’s rise, it’s online where threats and outrage continue to amplify the row, turning disagreements over lamppost flags into a national flashpoint.
The debate has also reached the presidential campaign trail, with all three candidates pressed on the issue in Monday’s first televised debate, a sign the issue isn’t going away soon.
