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Plans for an "anti-radicalisation" declaration were rejected because it would discriminate against Muslims, the government has said as it defended its record on extremism.
The Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council (Impic) yesterday said that it had warned two years ago that extremists were spreading hate messages in Ireland and claimed that the government had done nothing.
Sheikh Umar al-Qadri, chairman of Impic, had proposed that any foreign speakers coming to the country would have to sign the declaration as part of their entry visa conditions.
Yesterday the Department of Justice said that Dr al-Qadri's efforts to tackle extremism were to be applauded and that it had had a "lengthy" meeting with him on the visa proposals last year.