Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto 'Pico' Lopes has labelled recent attacks on homeless migrants "disgusting" as he shone a light on two initiatives promoting inclusivity and respect.
On Monday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said an investigation is under way to identify those who were behind violence targeting homeless asylum seekers in Dublin last Friday night, when tents were dismantled and set on fire by anti-immigration protesters.
Lopes was speaking at the launch of an initiative that will see the SSE Airtricity League and FAI offer sponsorship spaces to promote the LGBT+ National Helpline at men's Premier Division, First Division and the Women's Premier Division games this weekend.
The Cape Verde international has also recently helped to promote Africa Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham with a Cultural Village, music and dancing all planned to reflect modern African/Irish culture.
When asked about the unsavoury scenes in the capital's city centre, Lopes told RTÉ Sport: "It's disgusting, it's not nice at all. We're dealing with people, we're dealing with humans. We need to realise that.
"Everyone needs to look after each other and start treating each other with respect.
"Whatever your ideas are politically, we need to treat each other with respect. The most important thing is that everyone is safe."
Reflecting on the campaign to show solidarity with the LGBT+ community, Lopes highlighted a broad desire across the League of Ireland to embrace inclusivity.
While there are many openly female gay footballers, it remains far less common for players to come out in the men's game.
"It's just about spreading awareness and showing our support, as a league and as a whole," Lopes said.
"It's great to get behind it and really push it to show we support it in our league, from the players and the fans.
"I think the attitudes have definitely improved. Everyone is a lot more inclusive, it is a lot more progressive and I think everyone is out to support everyone. We just need to spread that message, make people aware that everyone supports everyone, that it's not the dark place it was maybe previously.
"I can't answer why there hasn't been a footballer who has come out [in the League of Ireland], but the most important thing we can do is make everyone aware that we do support people from the LGBT community.
"We need to make it as comfortable as possible so that if there was a person who did feel like they wanted to come out that they'd be safe and supported in our league and across the country."
On the pitch Lopes has played a key role in Shamrock Rovers' surge to the top of the Premier Division table.
The Hoops endured a surprisingly slow start to the campaign, failing to win any of their first six matches before a 4-0 win at Dundalk jolted them into life.
Stephen Bradley's men are now top of the league and warming up nicely for what they hope will be a strong European campaign in the summer.
"I don't think it was particularly terrible the first few games, we probably just weren't geting the points or the wins that maybe our performances deserved," Lopes said of Rovers' patchy start.
"That's part of football. Sometimes you don't always get what you deserve.
"But the most important part was we stayed committed to what we do and believe in and stayed true to that.
"We strive to be in the [European] group competitions, it's not an easy feat. We're looking forward to the draw to see what way it'll go this year. We'll be trying everything to get back to a group stage."
He'll also expect to be part of Cape Verde's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burkina Faso in June. Lopes has established himself as an important player for the country of his father's birth since making his debut in 2019.
He has really taken to international football, albeit there is one notable difference when he heads off for duty.
"It's a lot hotter!" he laughs. "You get a nice bit of sun. But football is one culture across the world. Dressing rooms don't change.
"Although there's a little bit of a language barrier at times, once we're on the pitch together we all understand each other.
"I'm lucky enough to be in two really good dressing rooms, one with Shamrock Rovers and one with Cape Verde, where everyone is involved and included, no one is left out. It's a really nice place to be."
Roberto Lopes was speaking at the launch of a branding takeover by LGBT Ireland which will take place at SSE Airtricity Men and Women’s Premier Division on Friday and Saturday to promote inclusion and diversity in advance of Pride month
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
