AN ANTI-IMMIGRATION protest has shut down Molesworth Street outside Leinster House this afternoon.

For a short period, Oireachtas staff and visitors to Leinster House were advised not to exit through the complex’s main door due to aggressive chants and jeers from some protesters. 

Aggressive chants of  “Traitors!”, “Get them out!” and “Cowards!” could be heard among the crowd, many of whom were carrying Irish flags.

A couple at the protest told The Journal they were attending because of immigration and because their adult children “have no future in this country”. 

The protest began on Dublin’s O’Connell Street outside the GPO earlier this afternoon. 

Ahead of the protest, unsuccessful general election candidate Michelle Keane, emailed TDs yesterday requesting that “100 Irish People” be granted access to the Dáil in order to to address the parliament. 

In a letter attached to the email, Keane said that “over 100 Irish citizens will march peacefully from the GPO to Leinster House under the banner: “The People’s Right to Dissolve the Dáil”.

The letter sought to “formally demand” that the protesters be given entry. 

Keane ran unsuccessfully for a seat in Kerry in last year’s general election and subsequently failed in a High Court bid to have election documents provided to her.

During the election she campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, having gained an online following as a campaigner through videos and posts on social media in recent years.

She has previously campaigned against 5G masts in Kerry and has protested against the housing of asylum seekers in other parts of the country.

After the election, she was jailed for breaking a court order not to post content on social media about a local garda – an incident which led to misinformation that her imprisonment was due to her uncovering of election fraud.