Right-wing activists are filling Dublin’s streets with Irish tricolour flags, a campaign that is dividing communities and intensifying a heated debate over immigration.

Supporters say the flags, informally attached to lamp-posts without permission, are a simple expression of patriotism – and many react furiously to the idea of restricting the flying of the national flag.

Opponents say the flags, which mirror a similar campaign in England , are designed to intimidate and to mark neighbourhoods as being for non-immigrants only.

“I’ve never been embarrassed by the Irish flag, but I think it’s now being used as a flag of hate,” said Ashley Nelson, a 52-year-old civil servant, whose neighbourhood was one of the first where flags appeared. “This is racism, this is ‘Ireland for the Irish’; i

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